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Free Throws the Difference in 54-48 Loss at NSU

Women's Basketball USF Athletics

Free Throws the Difference in 54-48 Loss at NSU

Free throws proved to be the difference in the Cougars' 54-48 loss to Northern State Saturday afternoon inside Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.

The game was tied at 48 with 2:36 to play and Northern State closed it out from the stripe, going 6-for-8 in the final minute to secure its fourth-straight NSIC win.

With the loss, Sioux Falls drops to 5-7 in NSIC play and 8-8 overall, while Northern State moved its NSIC record to 8-4 and its overall mark to 12-4.

The loss is the Cougars' third in a row. It is only the fourth time in fifth-year head coach Travis Traphagen's tenure that USF has dropped three straight contests.

Bailey Bouman led USF with 12 points and was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. She has shot 61 percent (11-for-18) from three-point range in the Cougars' last four games.

Junior forward Laura Johnson chipped in 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds. She also had two steals and recorded three of the Cougars' four blocks in the contest.

Northern State was led by the tandem of sophomore Rachel Krogman and junior Allison Kusler, who combined to score 39 of the Wolves' 54 points. Kusler finished with 21 points on 6-14 shooting and was perfect from the stripe (6-6). Krogman posted a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

The game couldn't have started off much worse than it did for the Cougars, as they missed their first five attempts and committed three unforced errors to allow the Wolves to jump out to the early 6-0 lead.

A pair of free throws by Johnson put USF on the board at the 15:02 mark. After a Kusler layup made it 8-2 in favor of NSU, the Cougars rattled off 10 straight points to lead 12-8 with nine minutes remaining in the half.

The run consisted of a pair of Bouman treys coupled with two mid-range jumpers from Johnson.

The three-pointers continued to fall for the visitors, as Bouman's third trey gave USF the 21-16 advantage and Teagan Molden's three with 2:33 left gave USF it's largest lead of the game at 24-18.

At that point, Northern State closed out the half on a 6-1 run to cut USF's lead at the half to one point, 25-24.

The Cougar reserves outscored the Wolves' bench 15-0 in the first half.

After the break, the Wolves matched the Cougars point-for-point and the game saw six ties and five lead changes in the second half.

NSU regained the lead 26-25 on a pair of Krogman free throws before Amber Paden made a strong move in the post and used the backboard to give USF the 27-26 lead. Paden followed with a drop step spin move for an easy layup that pushed the Cougars' lead to four, 30-26, with seventeen and a half minutes to play.

The Wolves responded with seven straight points and the game would go back-and-forth until the final minutes.

After two Johnson free throws tied it at 48, the Cougars missed their next three shot attempts. The Wolves hauled in every defensive rebound and went 6-for-8 from the line to create the final margin.

The Cougars shot 31 percent from the floor, 29 percent from deep and went 10-15 from the free throw line. Their shooting cooled off in the second half, as they went just 8-for-29 from the floor (27 percent) and 2-of-12 on three-point attempts.

They were careful with the basketball, amassing nine assists and tying a season-low with 11 turnovers.

Defensively, USF held NSU to 35 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point territory. The Cougars also held a 9-1 edge in steals and pestered the Wolves' into 15 turnovers.

Rushton finished with nine points while Paden and Molden chipped in six apiece.

The Cougars' bench outscored their NSU counterparts, 20-7.

Northern State won the rebounding battle, out-working the Cougars 41-30 on the glass and grabbing four more offensive rebounds.

USF welcomes Winona State and Upper Iowa to the Stewart Center next weekend.

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Players Mentioned

Bailey Bouman

#22 Bailey Bouman

F
5' 9"
Senior
Laura Johnson

#32 Laura Johnson

F
6' 0"
Senior
Teagan Molden

#30 Teagan Molden

F
6' 1"
Sophomore
Amber Paden

#42 Amber Paden

C
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Bailey Bouman

#22 Bailey Bouman

5' 9"
Senior
F
Laura Johnson

#32 Laura Johnson

6' 0"
Senior
F
Teagan Molden

#30 Teagan Molden

6' 1"
Sophomore
F
Amber Paden

#42 Amber Paden

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
C