SIOUX FALLS – Led by four players with double digits in points, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (8-2) closed out its nonconference slate with a 78-60 victory over Chadron State (3-9) on Tuesday at the Stewart Center.

The Cougars were led by sophomore guard Kaely Hummel, who had 17 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and four rebounds. She reached double digits in points for the 10th time this season. Freshman guard Lauren Sanders added 16 points, reaching double digits for the sixth time. Sophomore Mariah Szymanski finished just one point off her career-high with 13 points while adding three assists and four rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore Augusta Thramer provided a spark with career-bests in points with 12 and steals with six while dishing six assists. In addition, junior forward Jacey Huinker added six points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Huinker, second in the NSIC in rebounding, has secured 12 or more rebounds for the fifth time in six games.

With the victory, USF has recorded at least eight wins in its first 10 games for the fourth straight year.

USF led from start to finish in defeating Chadron State of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in the first-ever matchup between the two schools. The Cougars jumped to a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and, with a 16-7 margin in the second quarter, opened up a 35-17 halftime advantage. USF, which led by 20 points four times in the game, had an 18-17 advantage in the third quarter before the Eagles recorded a 26-25 edge in the final period.

While CSC had a slight advantage on the boards, 39-36, USF created the double digit point advantage through its tough defense. USF, which ranks fourth in the NSIC in scoring defense (58.0 ppg), forced CSC into 21 turnovers, including 10 steals, which led to a 29-to-3 advantage in points off turnovers. USF out shot CSC, 40.0 (26-of-65) to 35.1 (20-of-57) percent. USF, which had 13 assists on its 26 shots, also held an 8-of-3 advantage in made threes and an 18-to-17 margin at the foul line.  

CSC was led in scoring by Kalli Feddersen with a double of 23 points and 12 rebounds. Kendra Baucom added 14 points.

Game Breakdown --

USF jumped to 12-4 lead at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter as Hummel and Szymanski both scored five points, including each knocking down a trey. With just 26 seconds left in the quarter, Sanders hit a three for a 19-10 lead which the Cougars took to the break.   

Early in the second quarter, Huinker grabbed a rebound and converted the possession into points as USF took a 21-10 advantage. Shortly thereafter (8:11), Szymanski connected on second triple of the game as Cougars built a 24-10 and forced a Chadron State timeout. A three from Sanders enabled USF to push the lead to 31-15 with 5:09 on the clock. Then, Andi Mataloni converted a pair of free throws (1:24) to give USF its largest lead of the half at 35-15. CSC, which shot just 25 percent (7-of-26) in the first half, added a late basket to cut the deficit to 35-17 at the halftime break.  

In the opening half, the Cougars made 36.1 percent from the floor on 13-of-36 shooting, including 5-of-18 from three-point range. USF, which forced CSC into 13 turnovers, made all four of its free throws. However, CSC held a 23-18 rebound edge. Szymanski had 10 points to lead USF.

With a double digit lead entering the third quarter, USF and Chadron State held basically even with the Cougars owning an 18-17 advantage for a 53-34 lead. USF build a 49-29 lead at the 3:54 mark as CSC drew no closer than 15 points (41-26, 6:19, 3rd) in the quarter.

In a high-scoring fourth quarter (51 total points), the visitors made a run at USF. After the Cougars took a 60-40 lead with 6:10 to play on a Sanders lay-up, CSC began to rally. The Eagles put together a 12-2 run with Feddersen tallying all the points to draw within 62-52 with 4:08 to play.

USF had the answer as Sanders had a three-point play followed by a jumper from Szymanski, a lay-up and a pair of free throw from Thramer to push the lead back to 71-54 with 2:09 to play. CSC cut the deficit to 13 with under a minute to play but Hummel and Thramer converted four straight free throws as USF ended its pre-Christmas schedule with a victory.

Next for USF will be a pair of NSIC games against Wayne State at 2 p.m., on Saturday, Dec. 30 and Augustana on Sunday, Dec. 31, also at 2 p.m.