SIOUX FALLS – Led by a career-high 30 points from Taylor Varsho, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball team rolled up an 87-54 victory over Minot State in NSIC action at the Stewart Center on Friday night.

The win pushed USF's record to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC. Minot State dropped to 4-5 and 1-1 in the league.

Varsho hit a season-high 10 field goals on 17 attempts and tied a career-high with six three-pointers on 12 attempts. Her 30 points is the most by a USF women's basketball player in the DII era. The senior guard also had six rebounds and five assists in 33 minutes of action. Also reaching double digits was Alison Klostergaard with 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

The Cougars took an early 14-6 lead and continued to push the advantage all time. At the half, USF led 37-25. But it was the third quarter that USF put this game away with a 28-11 advantage for a 65-36 lead over the Beavers. By that time, the issue was decided as the Cougars eventually built a 33 point lead with 6:10 to play in the fourth quarter.

Overall, the Cougars hit 30-of-63 from the floor for 47.6 percent. Led by Varsho's performance, the Cougars hit 10-of-23 from three-point range and a sizzling 17-of-20 from the foul line for 85 percent. In total, USF had 13 players who scored, including freshman Lexi Lee with nine points on 3-of-4 from three-point range.

While the Cougars had 13 turnovers, they controlled the glass, holding a 43-32 advantage. USF had five blocks, including two from Madi Robson, who had a game-high six dimes. The Cougars added seven steals, led by Klostergaard.

For Minot State, Sarah Lester had 12 points and four rebounds while Savana Kingsbury. The Beavers hit 21-of-59 from the floor for 35.6 percent but made just 2-of-13 from three-point range. They were 10-of-19 from the free throw line.

The Cougars jumped out to an early lead against Minot State as a Varsho three-pointer provided USF with a 9-3 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first quarter. But Varsho started fast as she had eight points including a driving layup with seven seconds to play as USF took a 21-11 lead at the quarter break.

Alyson Johnson, who had four points and four rebounds, helped push the USF lead to 25-13 with 8:51 left in the 2nd quarter. Later in the second quarter, Lexi Lee knocked down a three as USF pushed lead back to 35-23 at the 1:40 mark. At the break, USF was hitting just 12-of-28 from the field for 42.9 percent, but 4-of-10 from three-point range and 9-of-11 at the foul stripe. In the opening half, Varsho had 11 points and three rebounds while Alison Klostergaard had six points and six rebounds. For Minot State, Lester led the way with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Beavers knocked down 10-fo-30 shots from the field but just 1-of-6 from three-point range. They were 4-of-7 at the foul line. The Cougars had a 19-17 edge in rebounds as both teams had nine turnovers and three steals.

Keyed by stout defense and offense from Varsho, the Cougars opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run for a 48-25 lead with 5:40 to play. Varsho had seven points during the run, including a three-pointer. From that point, the Cougars just build on the lead as they won for the sixth time this year at the Stewart Center, including both games in the NSIC.

Next for the Cougars will be a game against U-Mary at 4 p.m. at the Stewart Center on Saturday.