SIOUX FALLS – Returning to the Stewart Center after a split on the road, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball hosts a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference south division opponents this weekend. The Cougars (10-2, 6-2 NSIC) open the weekend with Upper Iowa (1-11, 1-7 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. Closing out the weekend, USF will host No. 14 Winona State (12-2, 7-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. Celebrating the university's first conference tournament title at the NCAA Division II level, the 2015-16 USF Women's Basketball team will be recognized after Saturday's game against WSU along with the unveiling of their championship banner.
 
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 will broadcast Friday's games KWSN AM 1230 or FM 98.1 and Saturday's contests on FM 107.9 with pregame starting 15 minutes prior to tip-off each night. 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.  
Cougars split weekend road trip, rain threes on Augustana for big rivalry win
With their first games out of the holiday break on the road at two perennial NSIC powers, the Cougars walked away with a split record this past weekend, falling 58-50 at Wayne State then rebounding the next night to defeat Augustana, 71-66. The Cougars faced a 23-point deficit halfway through the third quarter at Wayne State, but trimmed it to three off a big fourth quarter from Sam Knecht. With eight points in the fourth quarter, Knecht finished with her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Against crosstown rival Augustana, the Cougars were on fire from behind the three-point line, hitting 15 as a team while Madi Robson and Kaely Hummel combined for 11. Robson finished with a career-best 21 points, tying a career-high with five 3-pointers, and added six rebounds and six assists. Hummel connected on a career-best six threes and led the Cougars to victory with a game-high and new career mark of 22 points. The win was USF's second straight over Augustana and their fifth victory in the past seven games against USF.
 
Series history – Upper Iowa – USF leads 8-1
With a nine-point victory earlier this season, USF stretched their winning streak over Upper Iowa to six straight games and pushed their overall series advantage to 8-1 since the two programs began regular competition in 2012 with USF joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Cougars are a perfect 4-0 at home entering Friday's contest at the Stewart Center and their four victories have come by an average of 17.0 points per game. Kaely Hummel was one of four Cougars to score in double figures in USF's 67-58 win over UIU on Dec. 3. Hummel scored 18 while Sam Knecht had 16 with six rebounds and Jacey Huinker and Alyson Johnsen scored 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Series history – Winona State – WSU leads 6-3
On Saturday, USF will look to snap a four-game losing streak to Winona State, who holds a 6-3 advantage over the Cougars since USF joined the NSIC in 2012 and the two teams have squared off twice each season since. All three of USF's victories have come in the confines of the Stewart Center and they own a 3-1 record against WSU in home games, with last year's loss the only defeat for USF. Earlier this season, the Cougars clawed back from a 16-point deficit behind Brooke Smith's hot shooting to trim their deficit to five points in the fourth quarter, but USF's comeback bid was stopped and the Cougars fell, 70-60, on Dec. 2. Smith scored a career-best 18 points and Madi Robson added 17 for USF.
 
Cougar defensive quick hits

• In league games only, USF has the top defense in the NSIC in two different categories
• USF boasts the top scoring defense with opponents averaging a 54.6 points per game
• In addition to limiting opponents to the lowest scoring average, USF is holding their eight NSIC opponents to a 33.2 percent shooting mark, tops in the league
• In all games this season, USF owns the top defensive rating among the NSIC programs, boasting a 74.44 rating, which translates to allowing 74.44 points per 11 possessions
• USF's three-point field goal defense is third with opponents shooting 27.7 percent
• The Cougars have 85 steals in eight league games, second in the league, and the second-best turnover margin with a +4.50 average through eight games
• Sioux Falls has three Cougars in the top 10 of the league in steals per game, led by Madi Robson in fifth at 2.4 per game (19 total), Alyson Johnsen in seventh with 2.3 per game (18 total) and Brooke Smith 10th at 1.9 per game (15 total
• Sam Knecht has 15 blocked shots in league play, a 1.9 average per game that has her ranked fifth in the league

 
2015-16 NSIC Tournament Championship Team to be honored Saturday.
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 Athletics will unveil their championship banner as the five seniors from last year's team: Alison Klostergaard, Marie Malloy, Teagan Molden, Amber Paden, and Taylor Varsho will return to join the rest of the title-winning team.
 
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 has won two of every three games in first 250 games coached
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 166-84 career record, a .664 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 85-65.