SIOUX FALLS – Led by Brooke Smith's career-best 26 points and another double double from Sam Knecht, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (8-1, 4-1 NSIC) extended their winning streak to three games with a 66-47 North-South NSIC victory over Minnesota Duluth (4-4, 3-2 NSIC) on  Saturday at the Stewart Center.

With the snow beating the pavement outside, Smith, a senior 5-8 reserve guard from Twinsburg, Ohio, turned out her biggest performance as a member of the USF squad. She hit 9-of-15 shots, including 3-of-4 from three-point range while registering a game-high four steals with two rebounds. Smith's career-best effort helped USF to a 33-8 edge in bench points.

While Smith was performing at a high level, so was Knecht, a senior center from Platte, S.D., who was named All-NSIC two years ago and NSIC Freshman of the Year in 2013-14. She continued to make her case as one of the league's best centers by recording her 11th career double double, fifth this season, as she had 18 points and set a career-best with 18 rebounds. She broke her rebound mark of 17 set on Jan. 24, 2014 against rival Augustana. Knecht, who hit 8-of-10 from the field, had 38 points and 30 rebounds in leading USF to a sweep this weekend at the Stewart Center, where the Cougars are 6-0 this season.

In addition, USF's Alyson Johnsen had seven points, five assists and four rebounds while Jacey Huinker had eight rebounds and four assists for USF, which maintained a 16-7 advantage in assists.

While the two seniors had big games, USF head coach Travis Traphagen's defense was the key to the wins this weekend. St. Cloud State and UMD combined to average 49.0 points, scoring just 98 combined points in the two USF wins.

Against UMD, USF recorded a season-best 12 steals, led by Smith's four, and held UMD to 31.6 percent from the floor on 18-of-57 shooting. In fact, USF has had 10 or more steals for the third straight game. For the sixth time in nine games, the Cougars won the rebound battle.

The Bulldogs, which were led by Alyson Harris with 14 points and six rebounds, made just 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from three-point range although they were 8-of-11 at the foul line.

Meanwhile, USF was 27-of-60 from the field for 45 percent, including 5-of-14 from three-point range for 35.7 percent. In addition, the Cougars had a 42-32 rebound advantage and a 32-24 margin in points in the paint while recording 14 second-chance points.

In a back and forth first quarter, Taylor Meyer, who had 10 points in the night, helped UMD take a 8-6 lead with 3:24 to play in the first quarter. However, USF quickly asserted control by ripping off an 11-2 run for a 17-10 lead after a layup by Knecht. Then, Smith basically took over the game as her three pointer (1:29) and a layup (1:14) fueled the run and USF never trailed again.  

Early in the second quarter, Harris converted a jumper as UMD cut USF's lead to 19-15 at the 8:19 mark. But Smith continued her stellar play by hitting her second three pointer of the game with 7:22 to play to reset the lead at 22-15. At the 5:43 mark, USF's  Johnsen hit a jumper (5:43) which was followed by a three-pointer from Andi Mataloni as the Cougars took their first double digit advantage of the game at 29-17 with 4:44 to play until halftime. With a three pointer from Kenzi Kane, UMD cut the lead to nine which was answered by a Johnson jumper (1:11) and a pair of free throws from Smith with five seconds to play for a 33-20 lead which the Cougars took to halftime. USF had a 16-10 advantage in the second quarter.

In the opening two quarters, Smith led USF with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three-point range. Knecht added eight points and seven boards for USF, which was 13-of-28 from the floor for 46.4 percent while making 3-of-6 from three-point range. USF's defense was again stellar, holding UMD to 30 percent shooting on 9-of-30, including 2-of-14 from three point range. With Smith's production, the Cougars held a 15-2 edge in bench points in the opening two quarters.

UMD started quickly in the third quarter with a 7-0 run as Sammy Kozlowski three-pointer and four points from Harris cut USF's lead to 33-27 at the 7:32 mark. But a basket from Knecht and a jumper by Kaely Hummel, off an assist from Johnsen, pushed the lead back to 37-27 with 6:34 to play. Then, Smith had a steal and lay-up to increase the edge to 41-29 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

At the 1:40 mark, Knecht converted inside followed by a Smith free throw and lay-up for a 50-35 lead with 1:06 to play in the quarter. With two seconds left in the quarter, Meyer hit a jumper for USF, which drew within 50-37 at the quarter break.

After UMD cut the lead to 50-40 early in the fourth quarter, Smith took over, knocking home a three-pointer and converting a lay-up, followed by a Johnson three-pointer for a 58-43 advantage with 7:19 to play.  Back-to-back inside baskets from Knecht and another by Smith pushed USF's lead to 64-43 - its largest advantage of the game - with 4:30 left to play. It also shut the door on any comeback hopes by UMD.

Next, USF will conclude a three-game home-stand by hosting Southwest Minnesota State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17 at the Stewart Center.