WINONA, Minn. - University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball suffered their second straight defeat in a cold-shooting affair at Winona State, falling 69-52 on Friday night. The Cougars and Warriors are both now tied in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings at 10-3 overall, 6-3 in conference competition.
Dropping just their third game this season, the Cougars also suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time all season. The loss also evens USF's road record, placing them at 2-2 after their first leg of this weekend's road trip.
After trading blows with Winona State, the Cougars struggled to score early in the middle of the first half -- USF ended the half shooting just 33.3 percent. The score was tied 9-9 after Jaicee Ulmer connected on a layup, but the Warriors held USF scoreless for four minutes and built a small lead.
The Warriors would expand their lead beginning at the 9:22 mark when Hannah McGlone and Connor Nagle led a seven-point run to reach a 21-13 lead in less than two minutes. The WSU lead reached double digits after a quick burst by one of the Warriors' four three-point field goals in the first half.
Taylor Varsho continued to keep the Cougars within striking distance, scoring five of her five first-half 12 points in the last four minutes. Her free throws followed McGlone's layup which pushed WSU's lead to 14, the largest of the half. Jaicee Ulmer converted her two free throw attempts after a Nagle layup and Winona State took a 39-27 lead into the half.
After a strong start to open the second half, the Cougars cut the lead to nine points. Sam Knecht hit a jumper converted the free throw after she was fouled to begin the half. Alison Klostergaard then connected on a layup to cut the lead to 43-34, but that was the closest USF would get for the remainder of the game.
The Winona State lead reached its pinnacle at 18 points when Emily Passint hit a layup to push the Warriors' advantage to 52-34 at 9:28 in the second half. The Cougars would make four more field goals in the second half and finished 17-of-59 for the game, 28.8 percent, their worst field goal percentage on the season.
Varsho posted a game-high 19 points, but needed 15 shots to reach that total. Knecht was the only other Cougar in double figures, amassing 13 with a team-high nine rebounds -- Varsho would finish with eight boards.
The Cougars committed 17 turnovers and struggled to shoot from all over the floor, especially behind the arc. Varsho hit two threes and Ulmer one, but the Cougars, who came in shooting 35.4 percent from deep, made just 20 percent which matched their season-low.
The Cougars will look to rebound at Upper Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. Sioux Falls defeated the Peacocks, 86-56, at home on Dec. 5.
