SIOUX FALLS – Reaching the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals for the second straight year, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball (21-7) takes on NSIC south division No. 2 seed Wayne State (23-6) on Monday, Feb. 27 at 12 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The winner of Monday's game will advance to the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament championship where they will face the winner of Northern State and Winona State.
 
How to watch/listen
All of USF's home games and NSIC contests will be streamed live via Stretch Internet and are available at USFCougars.com/watch. Veteran broadcaster Tom Frederick will broadcast the Wednesday's game on KWSN and it will be broadcast on AM 1230 with pregame starting 15 minutes prior to tip-off each night. Links for all USF home games are available at USFCougars.com/livestats and links to road contest live stats are available on the USF Women's Basketball schedule.
 
USF enters #NSICTourney as defending champs, own 8-3 record in conference tournament
With six straight wins in the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament, USF has an 8-3 record in their five years as members of the NSIC. After their 54-45 win over MSU Moorhead in Saturday's quarterfinals, USF moved to 4-1 in games at the Sanford Pentagon, which has hosted the final three rounds of the conference tournament since 2014. USF also improved to 2-0 in NSIC Tournament quarterfinal games and they enter Monday's contest with a 1-1 record in the NSIC Tournament semifinals, losing to Concordia-St. Paul in 2014 and defeating Northern State last season.
 
Series History - Wayne State - WSC leads 8-3
After dropping the season series, USF looks to snap a losing skid against Wayne State and improve their 3-8 record against the Wildcats since they joined the NSIC in 2012-13. USF dropped both meetings with WSC this season, falling at Wayne State, 58-50, before dropping a 67-57 decision in their home finale. Despite the poor record, USF does hold a 1-0 series lead in NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament contests, forcing overtime and defeating top-seeded and NSIC regular season champion 75-69 in the 2014 NSIC Tournament. Monday's game is the second neutral-stie meeting between the programs and it is also the second non-conference matchup since USF joined WSC as members of the NSIC in 2012-13.
 
Sam Knecht earns All-NSIC first team honors
After a truly special season, senior center Sam Knecht was named to the All-NSIC first team and NSIC All-Defensive team in a release by the conference on Thursday. For the season, Knecht averaged a double-double with 13.4 points and 10.0 rebounds in her senior campaign. The Platte, S.D. native posted 10 double-doubles during the regular season and added another in USF's first-round win over St. Cloud State. Knecht has scored in double figures 20 times this year, and surpassed 20 points on four occasions. On the defensive end, Knecht blocked 56 shots this season and picked up 33 steals while leading the league in defensive rebounding. This is the third time Knecht has collected postseason hardware from the NISC after earning NSIC Freshman of the Year honors in 2014 and an All-NSIC second-team appointment in 2015.
 
USF ends regular season as top defense in NSIC
In a change from USF's blistering offense of the 2015-16 team, this years USF Women's Basketball team has grinded out wins and proved to be the top defense in the conference. In league-only games, USF posted the top scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 58.9 points per game. The Cougars tied Northern State for the top spot in the field goal percentage defense with each team limiting their NSIC foes to a league-best 36.6 percent mark from the field. The Cougars the clear No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a 27.9 percent effort for the season -- nearly three points better than Augustana's 30.4 percent mark. For the entire season, USF posted an 81.74 defensive rating, meaning they allowed an average of 81.74 points per 100 possessions, and that mark was No. 1 in the NSIC by more than three points. Update: In USF's two NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament games so far this season, the Cougars have held opponents to 30.4 percent shooting overall including a 5.4 percent mark from behind the arc aided by holding MSU Moorhead to 0-11 from three, the first time since USF held an opponent scoreless from three since Dakota State went 0-for-7 against the Cougars on Nov. 22, 2016.
 
Knecht finishes regular season with double-double average
In her senior season, center Sam Knecht finished with an impressive stat line, averaging a double-double for the year. The 6-foot-2 Platte, S.D. native scored 13.4 points per game and grabbed 10.0 rebounds per contest. Her scoring average ranks 17th in the NSIC and her rebound average is second, behing Concordia-St. Paul's Kyrah Fredenburg, and 28th nationally. On the season, Knecht recorded 10 double-doubles, second in the league to MSU Moorhead's Drew Sannes's 12 and her double-double sum is 44th in NCAA Division II. Knecht's USF-record 19 rebounds against Augustana on Feb. 10 were the most in the league and her 18 rebounds against Minnesota Duluth are tied for second. 
 
Robson dishes her way to top of NSIC assist rankings
Despite losing an average 46.6 points and 16.6 field goals per game from last year's high-scoring squad, senior guard Madi Robson turned in an special senior season as USF's point guard. The 5-foot-7 Ankeny, Iowa native handed out a USF season record  160 assists for a league-leading average of 6.2 per game. When accounted for time on the court, Robson assisted on 31.9 percent of USF's field goals. Three times this year, Robson handed out double-digit assists and she recorded at least five assists in 20 of USF's 26 games. Her 13 assists against Augustana on Feb. 10 were the most ever for a USF Women's Basketball player and her two-year total of 304 assists is the most in USF's Division II history. Update: Madi Robson continued her impressive generosity on the court, handing out 16 assists in USF's two conference tournament games. Robson dished ot nine dimes in USF's win over St. Cloud State then posted seven more in the Cougars' victory over top-seeded MSU Moorhead.