BURNSVILLE, Minn. – A trio of career-high marks from University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball sophomore Kaely Hummel led the Cougars to a pair of wins and earned her the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference south division player of the week honor. This is the first time Hummel has collected the award in her career and she becomes the fourth different Cougar to receive the honor since USF joined the NSIC in 2012 and it is the eighth time a USF Women's Basketball player has been recognized.
 
A 5-foot-8 guard from Cherokee, Iowa, Hummel has already put together a special season in her sophomore campaign, and she recorded or tied three career-high totals while leading the Cougars to a pair of home victories this past weekend. In wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, Hummel averaged 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
 
In Friday's 63-43 victory over Bemidji State, Hummel scored in double figures for the 15th time this season – she's had 10-plus points in every game this year – with 13 points. Despite an off night shooting, Hummel still managed to make an impact with the ball in her hand by dishing out six assists, which tied a career-high. She also posted two steals while not committing a turnover herself.
 
The following night, Hummel set a pair of career-bests with 29 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a 74-57 victory over Minnesota Crookston. Hummel connected on four 3-pointers and shot 12-25 from the field to arrive at her career-best, which is tied for fifth in USF's NCAA Division II history and is the sixth time that she has surpassed 20 points in a game this season. On the glass, Hummel picked up six defensive rebounds and a pair of offensive boards to reach her career-best total and help the Cougars win the rebounding margin over UMC. With three assists on Saturday, Hummel finished the weekend with nine assists and no turnovers, meaning she played 67 minutes without a turnover while she had a usage rate of 34.1 percent.
 
Breaking through in her sophomore season, Hummel is averaging 16.9 points per game, which ranks fourth in the NSIC this year. She has doubled her scoring total from her freshman campaign and crossed the 500 career points threshold on Saturday. Her career total of 512 points is already seventh in USF's D2 record books and her 11.1 career scoring average is fourth. Playing off the ball as a freshman last season, Hummel has expanded her game and is averaging nearly three free throws a night, while shooting 90.5 percent from the foul line, the third-best mark in the league.