WAYNE, Neb. - After holding a first-half lead, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball suffered its second defeat of the season, falling at Wayne State, 83-73, on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars drop to 12-2 overall with a 6-2 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

Sioux Falls held an 18-poin lead in the second quarter, using big first halves from Taylor Varsho and Alison Klostergaard, who each scored 14 points in the first two quarters but failed to score in the second half. The loss on Sunday marks the fourth straight defeat for USF at Rice Auditorium since the Cougars joined the NSIC in 2012.

USF handed out 11 assists in the opening quarter and raced out to an early lead. Sam Knecht and Klostergaard struck first, giving USF a slight lead. Varsho began to heat up, hitting a jumper and 3-pointer on consecutive possessions for an 11-5 lead.

Varsho hit from deep again to give USF a double-digit lead at 16-5 and Klostergaard knocked down a three for the second straight game to put USF up 12 points the next possession. Amber Paden answered a WSC layup with a lay-in of her own to set up Varsho for another 3-pointer. Paden put the finishing touches on the explosive first quarter with a layup and USF was up 26-10.

Wayne State chipped away at the near-20 point deficit, but the Cougars kept pace in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Klostergaard's and-one answered Wayne State's three free throws and Varsho hit another three to put USF back up 16. The USF lead reached its pinnacle with a jumper by Alyson Johnsen, who finished with nine points, putting the Cougars up 36-18 with 5:27 left in the half.

In just over three minutes, Wayne State cut more than halfway into the USF lead. Amber Paden stopped the 12-0 run by Wayne State, fueled by Maggie Schulte, who scored a game-high 22 points, with a free throw and Alison Klostergaard's perfect 6-for-6 free throw shooting in the final two minutes of the half kept USF on top, 43-36, entering halftime.

Despite Klostergaard and Varsho's first-half efforts, Sioux Falls's lead wasn't safe as Wayne State began to heat up. Schulte opened the half with consecutive 3-pointers and Sadie Murren hit a jumper to give Wayne State their first lead, 44-43, since the opening minute of the game. Johnsen gave USF the lead back with a jumper in the paint, but Wayne State reeled off eight straight points to put them ahead for good.

Johnsen kept USF within striking distance in the middle of the third quarter, cutting the Wayne State lead to three with a 3-pointer and then to two points with a pair of free throws near the three-minute mark. Wayne State then pushed their lead to double digits with Schulte leading the charge and Teagan Molden beat the buzzer with a second-chance layup to drop the deficit to nine points, 64-55, at the end of the third quarter.

USF made a brief charge at the start of the fourth, cutting the lead to five points after free throws by Knecht and a layup from Molden. Timely shots by Wayne State would halt any charge by the Cougars, including Haley Moore knocking down two 3-pointers in the final quarter. Lexi Lee sank a three from the corner to cut the lead to five points again, but Schulte answered with a triple of her own, and USF would get no closer than the five points after Lee's shot, eventually falling 83-73 on the road.

Molden scored seven points in the fourth quarter helping her to 11 points for the game and Paden reached double figures as well, tying Molden with 11 off the bench.

The Cougars return to the Stewart Center for the first time in nearly a month, hosting Winona State and Upper Iowa on Jan. 8 and 9, respectively.