SIOUX FALLS – Returning from the holiday break, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball turns their focus to two home games against a pair of tough Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference south division opponents. The Cougars (8-2, 5-1 NSIC) host Wayne State (10-4, 4-2 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. then welcome crosstown rival and league leader, No. 14 Augustana (10-0, 6-0 NSIC) on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. The three teams playing at the Stewart Center this weekend hold three of the top four spots in the NSIC South Division Standings and each has reached the NSIC Tournament championship game at least once in the past three seasons.
 
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 win over Wayne State would give USF a 6-1 record in NSIC play and match their best start in six years – matching 2015-16 and 2014-15 seasons – as a members of the conference
• USF is 2-3 against Wayne State at home, dropping last season's contest, 67-57, and a win would tie the series at home and bring USF to 5-8 against the Wildcats in six years as members of the same conference
• A win over Augustana would tie the series since USF joined NCAA Division II ranks – the Cougars trail 5-6 in the series
• Augustana owns the top scoring offense in the league with 84.0 points per game and Wayne State is second at 76.6 ppg while USF is fourth in scoring defense with 58.2 points allowed per game
• Sioux Falls has the top field goal percentage defense among the three teams at 35.4 percent, which ranks second in the NSIC, while Augustana is fourth (36.0) and Wayne State 10th (38.0)
• Augustana and Wayne State are the top two teams in the league at creating turnovers with Augustana picking up 12.6 steals per game and WSC second with 9.1 steals per contest
• Sioux Falls continues to lead the league with 8.9 made 3-pointers per game while Augustana is second with 8.6 makes per contest
• Kaely Hummel maintained her spot in the top four of the NSIC scoring list with 15.9 points per game
• Hummel has 400 points in her career, an average of 10.0 per game, which ranks fifth in USF's Division II history
• Jacey Huinker is ranked second in the league with an average of 10.7 rebounds per game
• Huinker has six games of double-digit rebounds, including five of her last six games, and she has USF's only double-double: a 15-point, 13-rebound effort (both career highs) in USF's win at Southwest Minnesota State on Dec. 16
• Lauren Sanders leads the NSIC with 2.8 made 3-pointers per game and Hummel is second at 2.6 per game

 
Series Histories
                  vs. Wayne State – WSC leads 8-4
Sioux Falls enters Saturday's game against Wayne State down 8-4 in the series and looking to start their first winning streak against the perennial power Wildcats. USF bounced back from a 61-48 loss on Dec. 7, 2012, in the first meeting between the programs as members of the NSIC, when the Cougars topped WSC 81-63 later that season. USF's next victory over Wayne State came as a marquee moment in their D2 tenure, a thrilling 75-69 overtime victory in the second round of the NSIC Tournament when WSC were the NSIC regular season champions and ranked No. 9 in the country. Despite the momentum from a program-altering victory, the Cougars dropped the next three contests. USF notched their third win of the series in a 38-point rout of the Wildcats, 84-46, to snap their losing skid. Last season, USF dropped an eight-point decision on the road then fell by 10 points to lose the season series. However, the Cougars found themselves pitted against the Wildcats in the NISC Tournament semifinals and used a huge fourth quarter to erase a halftime deficit and win, 58-49. At home the Cougars are 2-3 against Wayne State and USF is just 2-8 in NSIC regular season games.
 
                  vs. Augustana – AU leads 6-5
A two-point overtime loss is all that separated the Cougars from taking the series lead over crosstown rival Augustana since USF joined the league in 2012-13. Sioux Falls enters Sunday's game with a 5-6 deficit in the series, but the Cougars have won five of the last eight contests. In the midst of a run to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, Augustana handed USF a pair of lopsided defeats in the Cougars' first season as members of the NSIC, including a 92-64 win in the first meeting on Dec. 8, 2012. USF earned their first victory as Augustana's league opponent on Jan. 24, 2014, with an 84-72 win at home. That win started a streak of five wins over seven games, which culminated in a 71-66 victory in which Kaely Hummel hit six threes and scored 22 points on New Year's Eve 2016. In the game that clinched their first NCAA Tournament trip, USF cruised to their fourth consecutive victory by eight or more points in the NSIC Tournament, defeating Augustana, 75-57, behind 23 points from Taylor Varsho, including five 3-pointers. At home, the Cougars are 1-4, with their lone victory coming in 2014, and USF's NSIC regular season record against AU is 4-6, as the NSIC Tournament championship game was the only non-conference clash between the programs since USF joined the league.
 
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.