WAYNE, Neb. – Nearly erasing a 23-point lead, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball came up short of a spectacular comeback after in a 58-50 loss at Wayne State on Friday night. The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Cougars and drops them to 9-2 overall with a 5-2 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
 
In a resurgent fourth quarter, Sam Knecht scored eight of her team-high 14 points and finished with 10 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season. Jacey Huinker posted a career-best 12 rebounds to go with her four points. Madi Robson started the USF comeback and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.
 
The Cougars struggled offensively, finishing with a 32.1 percentage from the field on 17-for-53 shooting, hitting seven of their 21 three-point attempts. However, the Cougar defense, which leads the NSIC in field goal percentage defense, limited Wayne State to a 27.5 percent output on field goals. The Cougars went 9-for-15 from the free throw line for a 60 percent mark, while the Wildcats (9-3, 4-3 NSIC) shot 25-34 from the charity stripe.
 
Sioux Falls was limited to just five points in the first quarter, getting a putback layup from Knecht and one of Kaely Hummel's three 3-pointers. USF's defense kept them within arm's reach, holding Wayne State to 5-of-14 shooting for a 14-5 deficit after the first quarter.
 
After falling behind by 12 points two minutes into the second quarter, the Cougars began to claw back. Andi Mataloni hit a three and Hummel knocked down her second triple just before the midway point of the quarter. A Robson free throw trimmed the deficit to seven points, but Wayne State pushed their lead back to 12 before Augusta Thramer hit a jumper in the final minute of the first half to bring the score to 26-16 entering the break.
 
Wayne State was on fire out of the intermission, scoring 13 straight points for a 39-16 lead. Knecht stopped the WSC run with a jumper and USF began to chip away at their deficit. Robson hit two free throws, and Mariah Szymanski connected on a 3-pointer. Huinker hit a layup for her first points of the game and Robson scored four straight with a pair of free throws and a jumper after a Knecht steal. With their 13-2 run to end the third quarter, USF trailed by 12 points, 41-29, entering the fourth quarter.
 
Alyson Johnsen kept the Cougar surge going with a three on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but Wayne State answered with three free throws. The Wildcat lead hovered just over 10 points for the next four minutes before Robson hit a 3-pointer to start another USF run.
 
Robson's three cut the lead to nine points and Hummel followed with her third three to trim it to six at 48-42 with just less than four minutes to play. Brooke Smith's steal followed a Knecht jumper and it led to two more Knecht free throws, cutting USF's deficit to five points. Knecht closed out her personal 6-0 run with a layup and the Cougars trailed by just three points, 51-48, with 1:19 to play in the game.
 
The Cougars forced a stop on Wayne State's following possession, but USF committed one of their 28 turnovers on their first possession to tie since the opening minutes of the game. After trading free throws to keep the WSC lead at three points, USF was forced to foul to extend the game. Wayne State hit all six of their free throws in the final minute, icing the game for a 58-50 decision.
 
The Cougars play their final game of the 2016 year tomorrow, Dec. 31, against cross-town rival Augustana at 4 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena.