SIOUX FALLS – Wrapping up a three-game road swing, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball looks to bounce back from their first conference loss of the year when they play at Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. in Marshall, Minn. The Cougars enter the weekend with a 6-2 overall record, including a 4-1 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while SMSU enters on a three-game losing skid with a 2-6 overall mark, 1-4 in NSIC play.
 
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.
 
Cougar quick hits

• A USF win would be the ninth straight victory for the Cougars against Southwest Minnesota State
• USF has never lost at SMSU since joining the NSIC, maintaining a perfect 5-0 record entering Saturday's game
• A win would ensure the Cougars of their fifth consecutive season sweep of SMSU, winning both matchups in each season
• USF's 4-1 record in the NSIC is tied for fourth in the league and they are one of seven teams with one or less losses
• At 4-1 in NSIC play, USF is one win away from matching last season's 5-1 start and it would be the fourth straight year with a 5-1 start or better in league play
• USF is second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to 35.7 percent shooting
• Sioux Falls leads the league in three-point field goals per game, making 8.0 per contest and a total of 72 on the year
• Freshman guard Lauren Sanders is the individual leader in 3-pointers per game, making 2.8 per contest, and 22 total this season at a 43.1 percent clip, which is 10th in the NSIC
• Sophomore guard Kaely Hummel leads USF with 14.9 points per game, which ranks sixth in the NSIC
• Junior forward Jacey Huinker is second in the league in rebounding with 10.1 rebounds per game
• Huinker also leads the NSIC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0, handing out 21 assists to just seven turnovers
• Senior center Moira Duffy has already set a new season career-high with 18 blocked shots – previous best was 15 last season – and she ranks fourth in the league with a 2.3 blocks per game average

 
Series History vs Southwest Minnesota State – USF leads 10-1
With another double-digit victory earlier this season, Sioux Falls extended their series lead to 10-1 against Southwest Minnesota State. When USF joined the NSIC in 2012, the two programs began facing each other twice a season as travel partners and members of the league's south division. In the previous five years, USF has swept all but one season series, which was the first season they squared off. USF won the first matchup, a 77-66 decision in Marshall, Minn. on Dec. 1, 2012. The following contest was a 66-52 loss on the Cougars' home court on Jan. 15, 2013, but the next five years have been a string of commanding victories for USF. A 70-60 victory for Sioux Falls on Nov. 30, 2013, was the first of what is now nine straight double-digit wins and has been the narrowest margin of victory for USF in that span. The largest came on Nov. 25, 2014 in Marshall, Minn., when USF toppled the Mustangs, 91-50, a 41-point margin. Heading into Saturday's road game against SMSU, the Cougars are undefeated on the road, 5-0, against the Mustangs, winning all five matchups by double-digits and an average of 23.2 points.
 
Cougars now 3-0 in games decided by five points or less
With another narrow victory at St. Cloud State, the young USF Cougars are showing they can play in and win close games. USF held a four-point advantage, 55-51, with five minutes remaining at St. Cloud State last Friday, and they out-scored the Huskies, 9-8, in the final five minutes of game time with clutch shooting by sophomore guard Kaely Hummel and a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the free throw line by Augusta Thramer and Jacey Huinker. This season, USF is out-scoring their opponents 32-30 in the final five minutes of games when the score is separated by five points or less. Hummel, who hit a layup then drilled a corner three for five of her career-best 26 points in the final five minutes, leads the Cougars with an average of 3.0 points per game in the "crunch time" of games (final five minutes of games decided by five points or less). With Thramer and Huinker both going 2-for-2 on free throws to preserve the victory, USF is now a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line in "crunch time" this season.
 
Hummel and Sanders lead USF attack from deep
One year removed from former standout center Sam Knecht's All-American season, USF's offense has returned a guard-oriented attack with 3-pointers playing a big role. The Cougars are averaging 8.0 made threes a game, the most in the NSIC. They are shooting 32.9 percent on 3-pointers, which is eighth in the league. Of their 492 field goals attempted this season, 219 have come from behind the arc, or 44.5 percent of all of their field goal attempts. With 190 field goals made, 72 have been 3-pointers, 37.9 percent of their made field goals and 216 points or 40.5 percent of this year's points have come off threes. Individually, freshman Lauren Sanders leads the team with 22 made threes, an average of 2.8 per game, the most in the NSIC. Sanders also has a team-high 43.1 shooting percentage on threes, which is 10th in the conference. Kaely Hummel, who led USF last year with 54 made threes, is second on the team with 19 triples at a 37.3 percent rate. Mariah Szymanski has made 11 threes at a 39.3 percent clip and Andi Mataloni has 10 triples this season at a 25.0 percent rate, despite shooting 39.3 percent in her freshman season.
 
Huinker and Duffy turning in great seasons in the post
An undersized rebounder and unassuming shot-blocker have been pivotal to USF's early-season success. A 5-foot-9 forward, Jacey Huinker is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game and doing so at an impressive rate. Earning her way into the starting lineup, 6-foot center Moira Duffy has become a defensive force in the paint for USF, blocking 18 shots in eight games this year. A native Altoona, Iowa, Huinker flashed her rebounding prowess last season, grabbing 6.9 boards per game, including five double-digit rebound games. This year, Huinker already has four games with 10-or-more rebounds and has grabbed at least eight in every contest, which includes a nine-rebound effort in 19 minutes against Metro State after she didn't play in the second half due to injury. Taking her playing time into account, Huinker is grabbing 17.5 percent of available rebounds when she is on the floor and collecting 24.1 percent of available defensive rebounds (opponent missed shots). Huinker is one of two players to average double-digit rebounds for USF in their Division II era as Sam Knecht accomplished it for the whole season with a 10.0 average per game last year.
 
As for Duffy, she is one blocked shot away from joining the top 10 list for blocks in a season in USF's D2 tenure and she has raced into fifth place by nearly doubling her career total already this season. Hailing from Rapid City, S.D., Duffy has blocked a shot in six of USF's eight games and recorded multiple swats in five games. With seven blocks against Colorado School of Mines, Duffy was one shy of tying the USF D2 record, set by Knecht last season against Minnesota Crookston. Duffy has also increased her rebounding total, averaging 6.4 boards per game this year, including a pair of double-digit efforts against Colorado School of Mines and Southwest Minnesota State.
 
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. 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.