SIOUX FALLS – Opening a three-game home stand, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball welcomes a pair of NSIC north division opponents to the Stewart Center this weekend. The Cougars (6-1, 2-1 NSIC) are set to host St. Cloud State (5-2, 3-0 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 9 with tip-off set for 6 p.m. To close the weekend, USF takes on Minnesota Duluth (3-3, 2-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m.
 
How to watch/listen
All of USF's home games and NSIC contests will be streamed live via Stretch Internet and are available at USFCougars.com/watch. Veteran broadcaster Tom Frederick is on the call for tonight's game on KWSN AM 1230 or FM 98.1 with pregame starting 15 minutes prior to tip-off. Links for all USF home games are available at USFCougars.com/livestats and links to road contest live stats are available on the USF Women's Basketball schedule.
 
Knecht continues strong start, closes in on 1,000 points
With another 16-point outing against Upper Iowa, senior center Sam Knecht drew within one point of reaching 1,000 for her career. A native of Platte, S.D., Knecht has 999 in her career at a 10.7 average in her 93 career games. In her senior season and the focal point of the Cougar offense, Knecht is having a banner year beyond scoring. She has 102 points this season in seven games, a career-high average of 14.6 this season. Knecht has pulled down 70 rebounds to average a double-double this season with 10.0 boards per game. With one point, Knecht will become the 18th USF Women's Basketball player to eclipse 1,000 career points.
 
Series history – St. Cloud State
Sioux Falls looks continue its dominant streak against St. Cloud State, improving on its 5-1 record since the Cougars joined the NSIC in 2012. USF won the first four meetings, two of which came by double-digits. The Huskies broke their losing streak with an 87-67 win over USF in the 2015 NSIC Tournament first round, but the Cougars exacted revenge last season with an 80-68 victory. Four different Cougars scored 12 or more points, including Sam Knecht with 12 points and five rebounds. USF opened the series with a one-point, 57-56 victory in 2013 then rolled to a 13-point regular-season win and a 75-68 victory over SCSU in the first round of the 2014 NSIC Tournament. Despite losing later in the season to the Huskies, USF cruised to a 71-48 regular-season victory over St. Cloud State in 2015. The Cougars are 2-0 at home against the Huskies and a perfect 4-0 vs. SCSU in NSIC regular season games.
 
Hummel and Mataloni prove lethal from behind the arc
Making an immediate impact on the USF Women's Basketball squad, freshmen Kaely Hummel and Andi Mataloni lead the Cougars in three-point shooting. The two have combined for 32 of USF's 56 three-point field goals while shooting at a combined 42.1 percent clip. Hummel is 19-for-43 this season, a 44.2 percent rate, which ranks 11th in the NSIC. Both Hummel and Mataloni rank in the top 15 of the NSIC in 3-pointers made per game. Hummel is fourth with 2.7 makes per game and Mataloni's 13 total threes and 1.9 average is tied for 15th in the league. As a team the Cougars are 56-for-161 for a 34.8 percentage on threes, which ranks them seventh in the NSIC, and their average of 8.0 threes per game is tied for fourth.
 
Series History – Minnesota Duluth
Sioux Falls can turn consecutive wins over Minnesota Duluth into a winning streak this Saturday after winning the last two meetings in decisive fashion. USF holds a 3-2 edge over Minnesota Duluth since the two teams begun NSIC competition in 2012. The Cougars defeated the Bulldogs twice last season, taking down UMD 82-53 in the regular season then 66-50 as hosts in the first round of the NSIC Tournament, which USF would later go on to win. As part of stretch of five 20-point games in a seven-game span last season, Sam Knecht poured in 23 points to lead USF to their NSIC Tournament win. The Cougars recorded an 83-79 win to open the series in 2013 before dropping the next two matchups, a 69-59 decision in 2014, then a 70-65 home loss in 2015. Sioux Falls holds a 2-1 edge over UMD at home and the series is deadlocked at 2-2 in NSIC regular season games.
 
Cougar defensive quick hits

• Sioux Falls has the second-best scoring margin in the NSIC, holding a plus-15.1 point per game average over their opponents.
• USF's opponent scoring average is 54.0 points per game, third-lowest in the league
• The Cougars are holding their opponents to a 36.1 field goal percentage, fifth in the NISC
• Led by Sam Knecht, USF is fourth in the league with 4.7 blocked shots per game, 33 total
• Knecht has blocked 18 total shots this season, and average of 2.6 per game which ranks her third in the league
• Brooke Smith's quick hands lead a USF defense that is averaging 9.6 steals per game, fourth in the NSIC
• Smith is second in the conference with 2.7 steals per game with 19 total on the season
• Led by one of the top stealing defenses in the league, the Cougars have the highest turnover margin, forcing an average of 8.14 turnovers more than they commit per game

 
Huinker stuffs stat sheet in first year as a starter
Sophomore Jacey Huinker played valuable minutes during USF's special 2015-16 season, but she has stepped into a more crucial role as a starter for the Cougars this season. The Altoona, Iowa product has started all seven games and is averaging 27.9 minutes, second most on the team, after averaging 4.2 in 21 contests last season. Huinker has scored 42 points this season, an average of six per game, but been a force in all facets of the game. She is second on the team in rebounds and assists averaging 6.9 boards per game and 3.9 assists per game. In USF's win over Upper Iowa, Huinker scored a career-high 11 points while handing out a career-high seven assists and picking up five rebounds. Displaying her versatility, Huinker is fifth in the NSIC with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, 11th in assists per game with her 3.9 average, and 15th in total rebound average at 6.9 per game.  
 
Cougars coming off historic season
In just their fourth year as a member of NCAA Division II, USF Women's Basketball made a splash in both the league and the national scope of D2 Women's Basketball. The Cougars posted a 27-6 record, tying the mark set by the 2010 team, which advanced to the NAIA Elite Eight. In conference play, the Cougars finished with a 17-5 record, a four-win improvement from their previous best NSIC record. With four wins by eight or more points, Sioux Falls rolled to the NSIC Tournament championship, ensuring their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. During the season, USF earned their first top-25 ranking in the WBCA Coaches Poll, checking in at 25th after receiving votes all season. Individually, Taylor Varsho was the first NSIC Player of the Year for the Cougars and she was named the NSIC Tournament MVP while collecting D2CCA All-Region honors after the completion of the season.
 
USF picked to finish ninth overall in NSIC, sixth in loaded south division
After finishing a program-best second place in 2015-16 and rolling to the NSIC Tournament title, Sioux Falls was slotted to finish ninth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll released two weeks before the season kicked off. USF collected 108 total points in the 16-team poll while grabbing 24 points in the eight-team division, which placed them sixth. Winona State was the favorite in the overall poll, earning 201 points with the most first-place votes (7). Northern State (3), Augustana (4) and Minnesota State (2) all received first-place votes and were slotted second, third, and sixth, respectively, in the overall poll.
 
Leader of the pride: Traphagen continues Cougars' climb in D2
In his ninth season as head coach of the USF Women's Basketball program, Travis Traphagen has taken the Cougars to the NAIA Elite Eight and the NCAA Division II national tournament. A 1999 graduate of Black Hills State, Traphagen owns a 159-83 career record, a .657 winning percentage. In league play – his first three years as a member of the GPAC and the last four in the NSIC – he owns a record of 81-64.