SIOUX FALLS – Coming off a convincing victory in the conference opener, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball will wrap up a three-game home stand this weekend. The Cougars (3-1, 1-0 NSIC) host Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference south division foes Winona State (5-0, 1-0 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. then close the weekend against Upper Iowa (2-5, 0-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. The Cougars will then travel for the final two weekends before hosting their final nonconference game prior to the holiday break.
Don't miss any of the action
Radio for all USF Women's Basketball conference games are available at KWSN AM 1230 or
KWSN.com with longtime USF play-by-play announcer Tom Frederick on the call. 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.
Series Histories
vs. Winona State – WSU leads 6-4
Following a thrilling win in last year's second meeting, Sioux Falls narrowed the gap in their series against Winona State, but they still trail 6-4 in five years of competition. The Cougars and Warriors split their season series last year, dropping a 70-60 decision on the road before bouncing back to earn a 52-51 win at home.
Jacey Huinker scored nine points and
Mariah Szymanski posted eight points off the bench, including two timely 3-pointers. At home, USF owns a 4-1 record against Winona State, falling in controversial fashion to the Warriors, 60-59, in 2016.
vs. Upper Iowa – USF leads 9-1
With a seven-game win streak intact, USF heads into Saturday's matchup with eyes on extending their 9-1 series edge over Upper Iowa. The series opened with three straight one-possession games, and Upper Iowa clipped the Cougars, 78-75, in the first meeting of the 2013-14 season. Following that defeat, USF won the next seven games, six of which by double digits. Last year, USF rode 18 points from
Kaely Hummel to 67-58 victory on the road then pounced all over the Peacocks, forcing 20 turnovers as
Mariah Szymanski posted 11 points and
Jacey Huinker added seven points with a game-high 13 rebounds. As hosts of Upper Iowa, USF is 5-0 against Upper Iowa, winning by an average of 20.2 points per game, including two by 30-plus points.
Hummel paces young USF offense, ranks fifth in NSIC scoring with evolved game and increased role
Tabbed as USF's preseason player to watch as just a sophomore,
Kaely Hummel has lived up to her billing and leads the Cougars in scoring. With 14.8 points per game, Hummel has scored in double figures all four games and hit a career-high with 24 points against Southwest Minnesota State. In addition to a more than six-point increase in her scoring average, Hummel has found a way to score more with the ball in her hand than as a catch-and-shoot guard. Last season, 65 percent of her field goal attempts were threes and 61 percent of her made field goals were threes, while shooting at a 37.0 percent clip for the season. Through four games, Hummel has taken 55 percent of her shots this season from behind the three-point line and 55 percent of her makes are coming on threes, while staying at the same shooting percentage, 37.0, for the season. Hummel's increase in two-point attempts has also led to more free throws, of which she is taking an average of 2.5 free throws per game compared to 0.5 per game last year. A veteran by games played and started – she is tied with
Jacey Huinker for most career starts (33) on the team – she has handled the ball more, a usage rate increase from 19.3 percent last year to 24.4 percent this year. Usage rate measures how frequently a possession ends with a certain player either, scoring, assisting or turning the ball over.
Top defensive squads to battle again on Friday night
In the past two seasons, either Sioux Falls or Winona State has finished the regular season with top rated scoring defense in the league, and neither has finished outside of the top five in either year. Heading into Friday night's matchup, Winona State is tied for second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 52.6 points per game while Sioux Falls is fifth with their opponents scoring an average of 59.8 points per game. However, historically, Winona State plays at a slower pace, which holds up this year, as they are averaging 65 possessions per game while USF plays an average of 70 per night. When factoring in pace/possessions, the difference shrinks slightly with WSU owning a 79.9 defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) and USF has an 84.4 defensive rating, cutting the gap.
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.
