BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO) — USD and SDSU are perennial powers in women’s basketball as the two teams have combined to win each of the last five summit league tournaments. The two rivals are set to meet again on Saturday, for the first time this season.
USD sits at 4-2 in Summit League conference play following a win over UND and a loss to NDSU. The Coyotes have lost two of their past three games, but coach Kayla Karius is seeing improvement.
“I thought we showed a lot of fight in both games and I think what I really told our team yesterday is 2 months ago I don’t think we played this same way. I think we’ve grown so much and I think we’ve matured and different players have stepped up,” USD head coach Kayla Karius said.
SDSU sits atop the Summit League with a perfect 6-0 record. Much of that success stems from their offense which is scoring more than 85 points per game.
“I think we’ve gotten a little bit sharper with some of our ball screen action. Having Paige (Meyers) and Dru (Gylten) on ball screens is really effective cause they’re both such good passers. But I do think there’s a bit of contagiousness to it. When you have someone go out there and make shots it just takes pressure off everybody else,” SDSU head coach Aaron Johnston said.
The offense is led by power forward, Myah Selland, who is coming off a 30 point performance last Saturday.
“So when someone like Myah plays as well as she does early and like I said she’s out there hunting up shots and making plays. It absolutely settles everybody down so that’s a big part,” Johnston said.
USD owns the third best scorer in the conference, as Grace Larkins is posting 18 points per contest.
“Certainly she’s someone that can go out there and try and get a bucket and can do it out of an offense on her own. So we’ll have to have a good team plan there to try keep her somewhat under control but she takes a lot of shots and it’s hard to slow her down we’ll see what we can do,” Johnston said.
USD and SDSU will tip-off on Saturday, January 14 at 1 p.m. in Brookings.
