After going up by as many as 18 in the first half, the University of Sioux Falls women's basketball team held off a second half surge by the Cardinals to secure a 69-63 victory over William Jewell College Sunday afternoon in the Las Vegas Showdown. The Cougars finish the regular season with a record of 23-3, marking their second consecutive season with over 20 wins and completing the season on an eight game winning streak.

William Jewel came out of the gates with an aggressive full court press with hopes of limiting the Cougars time of possession, but USF responded with an effective press break that gave the Cougars great looks at the basket, where they converted on 55% of field goals in the first half.

 In her final game as a Cougar, Vanessa Johnson lit up the scoreboard in the opening frame, hitting four out of six 3-pointers en route to 18 first half points. She finished the game with 26 points, tying her career high set earlier this season at Southwest Minnesota State. The Cougars moved the ball well in the first period, as they recorded 11 assists on 16 field goals.  They held William Jewel to just 8 first half field goals on 28% shooting, and entered halftime with a 14 point lead and the score set at 40-26.

The game proved to be a tale of two halves, as USF came out cold in the second half, failing to convert a field goal in the first eight minutes of play.  William Jewell took advantage of the Cougars poor second half shooting, and cut the lead down to seven points at the 9:45 mark.  Both teams exchanged baskets for the majority of the half, until an and one by William Jewel's Jesse Wheeler brought them within two points.

 With 50 seconds left on the clock, USF's Chrissy Strassburg drove the lane and knocked down a pull up jumper to put the Cougars up by four points.  After a missed William Jewel field goal attempt, Holli Aggen went to the line and converted both free throws to seal to Cougar victory, with a final score of 69-63. 

Aggen was the only other Cougar to reach double digits, finishing the game with 11 points.  Laura Johnson chipped in seven points.  William Jewell was led by Holly Switzer and Cassy Nicolay, scoring 17 and 15 respectively.