Western heads to South Dakota to take on USD, SDSU
MACOMB — The Western Illinois women hit the road this week for a pair of games, heading north to South Dakota to take on South Dakota on Thursday (7.p.m.) and South Dakota State (2 p.m.) on Saturday.
Western Illinois (11-5, 2-3) has lost three straight, including dropping a pair of home games last week to North Dakota and North Dakota State.
The slide has seen WIU fall into seventh in the Summit.
Thursday’s opponent, South Dakota (14-4, 7-0) has not experienced a loss in close to two months, winning 12 straight and standing at 14-4 overall and 7-0 in the league.
The last loss for USD was November 26 vs. Texas A & M.
Defense is the name of the game for USD as the Coyotes lead the lead, allowing teams to score 53.1 points per night.
South Dakota is holding foes to a league-best 36.6 percent from the field while teams shoot 30 percent from three.
Offensively, South Dakota is sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 66.9 points per game.
The Coyotes make 42.5 percent from the field.
USD leads the Summit in turnover margin at +7.
Chloe Lamb leads the Coyotes in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game while Hannah Sjerven adds 13.7 per game and Liv Korngable contributes 12.1.
Sjerven also adds 7.1 rebounds per game while Kyah Watson grabs 4.2 rebounds a game.
Lamb is among the top three-point shooters in the league, making 37.3 from beyond the arc.
Sjerven leads the conference in blocks per game (1.9).
On Saturday, the Leathernecks face another difficult road contest, taking on South Dakota State.
The Jacks are 10-8 overall, 6-1 in the league.
SDSU’s lone loss in conference was to the Coyotes.
The Jacks score 68.9 points per game while allowing 61.1, good for third and second best in the conference.
SDSU leads the league in field goal percentage, making 45.3 percent of its shots, while allowing opponents to connect on 40.5 percent of attempted field goals.
The Jacks are the best three-point shooting team in the league by percent, hitting 37.1 percent. Their 137 makes is third-best in the conference.
Opponents are shooting 30.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Paige Meyer leads a balanced SDSU offense, averaging 10.4 points per game. Paiton Burckhard adds 9.8 per game.
Kallie Theisen leads the Jacks with 5.1 rebounds per game while Burckhard adds 4.8 boards a contest.
Tori Nelson leads the league in field goal percentage, making 56.9 percent of her shots.
This article originally appeared on The McDonough County Voice: WIU WOMENS BASKETBALL
