ST. CLOUD, Minn. - In a game that epitomized the cliché that basketball is a game of runs, it was St. Cloud State who made the final surge to hand University of Sioux Falls an 87-76 loss in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night. The Cougars saw their season come to a close with a 17-10 record while St. Cloud State advances at 16-11 to the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Sioux Falls, who was No. 5 seed from the NSIC South Division, fell behind SCSU early, failing to stop the NSIC North Division fourth-seeded Huskies as they built a 14-point lead. Junior guard Taylor Varsho, who tied Jaicee Ulmer with a team-high 18 points, scored five straight points to give the Cougars some life. Sam Knecht poured in eight of her 16 points in a four-minute stretch to inch the Cougars closer to SCSU. USF eventually cut the St. Cloud State advantage to three points, 38-35, after Varsho hit a running three before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Ulmer kept USF afloat early in the game, scoring five of her team's first nine points, but the Sioux Falls defense couldn't hold St. Cloud State. The Huskies opened the game connecting on nine of their first 13 field goal attempts, building a 21-4 lead. Ulmer and Karissa LeCaptain traded layups before the Cougars would end the half on their 26-15 run, fueled by Varsho and Knecht's combined 16 points.
In a tale of two halves, it was the Cougars who would open the second on a tear, continuing their late burst from the first stanza. Ulmer hit a 3-pointer to give USF their first lead at 42-40 then hit a second one to cap off a 10-2 run to open the second half. Connecting on two straight layups, Varsho pushed the Cougar lead to nine, 54-45, with 13:45 to play.
At 11:50 in the second half, Knecht converted a layup from a Marie Malloy pass, one of seven assists on the night from the junior point guard, but that would be the last time USF would score for 4:15 and St. Cloud State was able to retake the lead with 10 consecutive points. Alison Klostergaard sank both of her free throws to tie the game at 61-61 prefacing what the final seven minutes would entail, 24 free throws, 20 of which were shot by St. Cloud State.
Over the final 5:27, the Huskies connected on 19 of their 20 free throw attempts, ensuring SCSU would hold onto their lead. Lecaptain went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe to reach her game-high 23 points and Chelsea Nooker hit all four of her free throws to reach 22 points.
Mimicking the USF run to close the first half, St. Cloud State finished the game on a 26-15 spree of their own, culminating in the 87-76 run that earned them a trip to the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 28.
Marie Malloy collected her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, nearly achieving a triple-double with her seven assists. Knecht grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her 16 points for her seventh double-double of the year.
USF's 17 wins are a program-best since joining the NSIC in the 2012-13 season. Their 13 conference wins and seventh-place overall finish in the conference are program-bests.
