SIOUX FALLS – With a perfect conference record intact, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball embarks on their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road trip of the season. The Cougars (5-1, 3-0 NSIC) are set to face one of the top defenses in the league at St. Cloud State (4-2, 1-1 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. Closing the weekend trip, USF faces Minnesota Duluth (4-1, 2-0 NSIC) on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 4 p.m.

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

• USF has started the season with a 5-1 record, the fifth time they've held a 5-1 record or better since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2012
• With a 3-0 record to start NSIC play, USF is one win shy of their previous best start, a 4-0 record to open the 2014-15 NSIC season
• USF has three players ranked in the top 20 of the NSIC in scoring average, led by Kaely Hummel's 13.8 ppg average, which is ninth in the league (T18. Jasmine Harris: 12.7 ppg; T20. Lauren Sanders: 12.2 ppg)
• Moira Duffy's average of 2.7 blocked shots per game leads the league and she has already surpassed her total from last year with 16 this season
• Jacey Huinker is third in the league with 10.2 rebounds per game and seventh in steals with nine total and 1.8 per game
• Lauren Sanders's average of 3.0 three point field goals made per game leads the NSIC and USF has four ranked in the top 10 (6. Hummel: 2.2 3FG; T10. Mariah Szymanski: 1.7 3FG; T10. Andi Mataloni: 1.7 3FG)
• Sophomore Mariah Szymanski is tied for fourth on the Cougars with a 6.7 ppg average, leading USF's bench in scoring in 12.3 minutes per game

 
Series Histories
                vs. St. Cloud State – USF leads 7-1
With three straight wins over St. Cloud State, University of Sioux Falls has extended their series lead to 7-1 over the Huskies. The Cougars eked out a one-point victory, 57-56, on Jan. 12, 2013, then reeled off three more wins, including the program's first NSIC Tournament victory in 2014. St. Cloud State avenged their postseason loss from the previous year, beating the Cougars in 2015 despite losing to USF, 71-48, in the regular season. Back on the right track, the Cougars took down SCSU, 80-68, in their 27-win season in 2015-16. Last season, USF hosted the Huskies twice, winning the regular season matchup, 74-51, which featured Jacey Huinker grabbing 10 boards, scoring six points and finishing with three steals in the Dec. 9, 2016 victory. In the first round of the NSIC Tournament, the Cougars notched their third straight double-digit win against SCSU, 65-51, with Andi Mataloni hitting five threes on Feb. 22, 2017, to pace USF. On the road, USF is 3-1 against St. Cloud State and they are an unbeaten 5-0 against the Huskies in NSIC regular season matchups. 
 
                vs. Minnesota Duluth – USF leads 4-2
After three wins over Minnesota Duluth in the 2016 calendar year, the Cougars enter Saturday's matchup with UMD ahead 4-2 in the series. USF earned an 83-78 victory on Jan. 11, 2013, the first meeting between the two programs. Following a two losses in 2014 and 2015, the Cougars rebounded with a dominant 82-53 (Jan. 29, 2016) on the road and returned to the Stewart Center for a 66-50 victory in the first round of the NSIC Tournament on Feb. 24, 2016. Last season, Sioux Falls completed their 3-0 record against the Bulldogs in the 2016 calendar year, rolling to a 66-47 victory behind Sam Knecht's 18-point, 18-rebound effort. Returners Kaely Hummel and Andi Mataloni scored six and five points, respectively, in the Dec. 10, 2016 victory. USF is 1-1 on the road and they own a 3-2 edge in NSIC regular season games.
 
Harris's second game-winner shows young Cougars coming up clutch
For the second time this season, freshman guard Jasmine Harris scored a game-winning layup in the final seconds. Harris's winner with one second left lifted USF to a 61-60 win over Winona State and was the second game-winner of her young career, joining her buzzer-beating layup in USF's 54-52 win over Colorado School of Mines. This season, USF holds a 54-51 edge over their opponents in the final five minutes games. With the game separated by five points or less and five minutes remaining on the clock (often referred to as 'crunch' time) – USF has only played in two such games this year – the Cougars are out-scoring their opponents 23-22. In Friday's win over Winona State, USF faced a 49-46 deficit with five minutes remaining, and that WSU lead quickly turned into five points just after the five-minute threshold and eight points with 4:20 left. Then, USF's freshman point guard took over, scoring seven points in the final four minutes of the game, including a 1-for-1 effort on free throws, which tied the game. With her game-winning layup from the Colorado School of Mines game, Harris is averaging 4.5 points in crunch time – the final five minutes of games separated by five points or less.
 
Three of the top NSIC defenses to meet this weekend, each featuring different style of play
While the Cougars rank in the middle of pack in possessions per game, which is referred to as pace, they will get a taste both ends of the pace spectrum in the league. USF enters this weekend with an average of 70.5 possessions per game. St. Cloud State, who hosts USF on Friday night, enters with an average of 66.1 possessions per game, the fourth-slowest pace in the league. The following night, Minnesota Duluth welcomes the Cougars and features the second-fastest offense in the league with 73.1 possessions per game. Despite the varying pace between this weekend's opponents, they are the two top-ranked defenses in the league according to defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). St. Cloud State gives up an average of 75.1 points per 100 possessions, the best mark in the league, and their scoring defense of 49.7 points allowed per game, which is supplemented by the top three-point percentage defense (19.5 percent), is the lowest in the NSIC by six points. UMD is second in the league with a defensive rating of 76.6, and fourth in scoring defense, allowing an average of 57.4 points per game. The Cougars aren't far behind in the advanced data, owning the fourth-best D Rating at 80.4 points allowed per 100 possessions, and they have the third-best scoring defense due to a slower pace with 56.7 points allowed per game.
 
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.