SIOUX FALLS – After rolling in their season opener, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball takes to the road for a pair of tough tests in Golden, Colo. The Cougars (1-0) will face Metro State (0-2) on Friday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. (MST) in the first of two games at the Tony Corbetta Classic. On Saturday, Nov. 18, USF will face host Colorado School of Mines (1-1) at 5 p.m. (MST) to wrap up their trip to the Centennial State.
 
Don't miss any of the action
Keep up with USF Women's Basketball on all of their social media platforms by visiting the USF Social Media Directory. All of USF's home games and NSIC contests are streamed for free through Stretch Internet and can be viewed at usfcougars.com/watch. Live stats for all home games are available at usfcougars.com/livestats and links to away games are available on the 2017-18 USF Women's Basketball Schedule.
 
USF set to face two opponents for the first time
As Sioux Falls enters the back half of the decade in their Division II membership, the Cougars' cache of opponents continues to grow. This weekend, USF will face two opponents for the first time in their D2 tenure: Metro State of Denver and Colorado School of Mines, who both play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. USF does have four games against RMAC programs, defeating both Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines on the road in 2013 then rolling to double digit wins over South Dakota Mines in the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.
 
What had happened was
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, the Cougars opened the 2017-18 season with a fast-paced 90-56 win over Presentation College in which they broke the program record for made 3-pointers. Four different USF players scored in double figures, led by freshman Lauren Sanders, who posted 23 points, including seven threes. Sophomores Kaely Hummel and Mariah Szymanski finished with 12 and 11 points each, and freshman Jasmine Harris notched 10 points. Do-it-all junior forward Jacey Huinker grabbed 10 rebounds and scored nine points while sophomore guard Augusta Thramer grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a career-best nine assists. As a team, the Cougars connected on 17 threes, breaking the previous D2 record for USF, which was set last season.
 
Cougars picked 10th in NSIC preseason poll, sixth in south division
USF was picked to finish 10th by the league coaches in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Cougars picked up 123 points in the poll, just three points from eighth.
(Preseason poll cont.) MSU Moorhead was tabbed the overall favorite while Northern State and Augustana each received first-place votes. In the eight-team south division poll, USF was picked sixth and Augustana earned the top spot. The past two seasons, USF has outperformed their preseason billing, placing second in 2015-16 and taking fifth in 2016-17 after they were picked ninth.
 
Hummel named player to watch, returns as leading scorer
A starter for the Cougars from day one, guard Kaely Hummel enters her sophomore season as the leading returning scorer for USF and she was cited as a player to watch in the NSIC preseason release. A 5-foot-7 Cherokee, Iowa native, Hummel averaged 8.0 points per game last season, appearing in all 30 games, including 29 starts. A 34.6 percent shooter from behind the arc, Hummel connected on a team-high 54 three-point field goals. Including the first three games of her career, Hummel scored in double figures 10 times and posted a career-high 22 points in USF's win at Augustana.
 
Rate of play, rate of play, rate of play
The Cougars racked up 49 wins over the past two years in vastly different ways when adjusting for their pace of play. USF's 27-win team in 2015-16 was one of the fastest in the NSIC, averaging nearly 71 possessions per game while scoring 72.6 points per game, which ranked fifth in the league. Adjusting for their pace of play, the Cougars' offensive rating of 102.62 points per 100 possessions was second in the league. After graduating four of their top five scorers, Traphagen revamped the team and their pace dropped nearly two possessions per game in 2016-17. USF became the toughest defensive team in the conference, posting an 81.11 defensive rating, a 81.11 points per 100 possessions. The Cougars held opponents to 56.9 points while playing at a nice 69 possessions per game.
 
Three's a crowd
With a young backcourt, the Cougar offense will rely heavily on USF's hot-shooting sophomore trio of Kaely Hummel, Andi Mataloni and Mariah Szymanski. Hummel knocked in a USF-high 54 three-point field goals at a 34.6 percent rate. Finding her niche in the offense later in the season, sharp-shooting forward Mataloni connected from deep at a 39.3 rate with 46 made threes. Szymanski shot 33.3 percent from behind the arc, making 22 threes in her freshman season. Of USF's 651 attempted 3-pointers, Hummel, Mataloni and Szymanski took 52 percent of those shots.
 
Cougar cubs to grow up fast
Natural attrition over the past two seasons has hit the Cougars hard, graduating four of their top five scorers each year. With only two upperclassmen on the 2017-18 roster in senior Moira Duffy and junior Jacey Huinker, the Cougars look to their underclassmen in 2017-18. Headlining those freshmen are guards Jasmine Harris and Lauren Sanders, who figure to push for starting roles and heavy minutes. In the post, forward Kennedy Dighton and center Ashley Hodell hope to start the transition from the USF Women's Basketball program's first All-American Sam Knecht, who was the starting center for four years. Kiara Bradley, Amanda Dagostino Abby Slater, and Mari Smitsdorff give the Cougars plenty of options and playing styles in the post.