The University of Mary lived up to its nickname today.

Shooting 51.7 percent from the field, the Marauders stormed into Sioux Falls and pillaged the Cougars for a hard-earned 76-65 conference win at the Stewart Center on Saturday afternoon.  

With the victory Mary improved to 15-9 on the season and 10-8 in the NSIC loop while the Cougars, looking to gain ground in the NSIC standings, dropped to 11-11 overall and 8-10 on the league circuit.

Laura Petersen led four Marauders in double figures with 18 points.

USF junior forward Laura Johnson had a game-high 20 points in the losing effort. She finished 7-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-6 from distance, and pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Bailey Bouman chipped in 14 points and continued to be dialed in from beyond the arc, where she went 3-for-6.   

USF shot better from 3-point range (43.5%) than it did from the field (34.3%).

Amber Paden went up strong in the lane with her right hand to stake the Cougars to a quick 2-0 lead at the game's onset. That proved to be their only lead.

Free throws from Laura Petersen and a paint bucket by Shanara Clark shifted the lead in favor of the Marauders 4-2.

Alyssa Rushton pulled up for a baseline jumper that tied it at 4-4 before Ali Collins hit the first of Mary's 11 3-pointers at the 18:09 mark. The Marauders proceeded to outscore the Cougars 41-27 over the rest of the half and went to the locker room with a 45-31 lead.

The Cougars went 6-for-11 from downtown in the first half. Mary committed seven turnovers in the first half and USF converted those mistakes into 13 points.  

Out of the break it looked as though the Marauders were going to win easily, extending their lead to 20 points after opening the second half with back-to-back treys while the Cougars went scoreless in that stretch.

USF continued to rely on good three-point shooting to keep them in the game. With the deficit still at 20, Jaicee Ulmer trimmed the deficit to 14, 51-37, with consecutive three-point buckets. But Mary retaliated with a three-ball from bench sniper Brittney Dietz and strung together a 9-2 run to bulge its lead to 21 points with 14:11 left in the game. 

The Cougars were unable to get any closer than 10 points for the remainder of the contest.

Ulmer finished with 13 points for the Cougars, while Rushton had eight points and a team-best four assists.

USF shot 34.3% overall from the field went 9-for-11 (81.8%) from the line. The Marauders enjoyed a 41-35 edge on the glass. It's the third time in the last four games that USF was outrebounded by its opponent.

The Cougars will host Augustana College on Friday.