Tipping Off
With only three games left in the regular season, the Mavericks will depart for their final road trip of the season as they take on South Dakota this Thursday at 7 p.m in Vermillion, S.D.

The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits

• Omaha split its home series last week, stunning North Dakota State in a 63-58 victory on Thursday, before being taken down on Saturday by North Dakota 61-79. The Mavericks will begin their final road trip of the year at 12-14 with a 7-8 conference record.
• The Mavericks were unable to find their footing in the first half against the Fighting Hawks, getting outscored 51-20. Though they were able to make up considerable ground in the second half, even outscoring UND 41-28, it was not enough to fully overcome the deficit.
• Elena Pilakouta will look to continue her climb up Omaha's all-time scoring leaderboard as she enters the week in 17th place with 1136 points, 29 away from 16th place. Last time out, she was the lone Maverick to score in double-digits with 10 points, giving her 359 (13.8 PPG) on the year. In shooting 3-for-4 on Saturday, she increased her league-leading FG% to .626, good for seventh in the entire NCAA. Against South Dakota last month, Pilakouta scored 14 points and had seven rebounds, as well as a season-high three blocks.
• Sam Mitchell was right behind Pilakouta with nine points on Saturday, her most in a Summit League match since dropping 12 on Western Illinois back on January 5. She made two from behind the arc vs. UND and also had three rebounds and two assists. Mitchell pulled down two boards and had an assist vs. USD this year.
• Aaliyah Stanley managed to break into the top 10 in the Summit League in scoring with 306 points (11.8 PPG) after adding five more on Saturday. Against the Coyotes this season, she scored 16 points and had four assists.
• Kennedi Grant continues to close in on the 250-point mark after she had six points vs. North Dakota to increase her season total to 234 (9.8 PPG). She had seven points and four assists vs. USD last month.
• Jaylen Townsend also scored six points against the Fighting Hawks, going 6-for-6 on free throws to increase her FT% to .895 on the season.  

Scouting the Coyotes
The Coyotes are directly ahead of the the Mavericks in the Summit League standings at 11-14 overall and 7-7 in league play. They have lost four in a row, most recently being downed by SDSU 79-48 at home. In their first meeting this season, Omaha was up 37-31 at halftime in Baxter Arena, but USD rallied in the second half to win it 70-63.

Sophomore guard Grace Larkins not only paces the Coyotes in nearly every category, but is first in the Summit League in assists with 117. She is also top 10 in points (445), PPG (17.8 PPG), rebounds (190), RPG (706), and steals (48). Larkins has recorded six double-doubles this season and has twice been a single assist away from earning her first career triple-double. In USD's first game at Omaha this season, she led the team with 24 points and nine rebounds.

Redshirt freshman Carley Duffney is second on the Coyotes with 233 points (9.7 PPG), thanks in part to the highest qualified FT% on the team at .854 (76-for-89). She had her first ever start in a Summit League game at Omaha this season, scoring a career-high 22 points, shooting 9-for-13 (.692).

Head Coach Kayla Karius is in the first season of her first head coaching job, previously being an assistant coach with the Coyotes, as well as Wisconsin and Drake. In both of her prior seasons with USD from 2016-18 the Coyotes had two WNIT berths and a Summit League regular season title.

All-Time Against South Dakota
The Mavericks trail the Coyotes 35-52 all-time, going 2-20 in the Division I era and 33-32 in the Division II era. In the teams' first meeting this year, Grace Cave scored a season-high 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Omaha will look to break an 11-game losing streak against the Coyotes, dating all the way back to the 2017-18 season.