SIOUX FALLS – Looking to repeat as NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament champions, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball (22-7) faces Northern State (23-6) in the conference tournament title game on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls won the tournament title last season and this winner of Tuesday's matchup will earn the NSIC's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament held on March 9-12 with the site determined by the host institution.
 
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 9-3 record in conference tournament
Running their string of NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament victories to seven, USF now owns a 9-3 record in the conference tournament. In games played at the Sanford Pentagon (the site for the final three rounds since 2014), USF is 6-1 and have won their last five games at the venue. With their victory over Wayne State on Monday, USF is now 2-1 in semifinal games, and they enter the championship game with a 1-0 record, defeating Augustana 75-57 in last year's title game.
 
Series History - Northern State - Series tied 3-3
What better way to break a series tie with an in-state rival than for the conference tournament title. Since Sioux Falls joined the NSIC in 2012-13, the Cougars have faced Northern State six times and each team has won three apiece. USf dropped a one-point game, 63-62, to the Wolves in their only matchup this season. USF prevailed over NSU in last year's NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals, 71-63. In neutral site games USF holds a 1-0 advantage, earning the lone victory at the Sanford Pentagon last season.
 
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 own 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 three conference tournament games, USF is holding their opponents to 30.8 percent shooting, holding all three opponents to 51 points or fewer and less than 32 percent shooting. From three, USF opponents have shot 8.2 percent, going 4-for-49 from the field.
 
Knecht finishes regular season with double-double average
In her senior season, center Sam Knecht averaged a double-double. 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. Update: In three conference tournament games Knecht leads the NSIC tournament participants who have played multiple games with a 21.7 scoring average and 10.7 rebounds per game. She has scored consecutive 20 point games with 25 against MSU Moorhead and 26 against Wayne State, and added double-doubles in USF's first two games.
 
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 22 assists in USF's three conference tournament games. Robson dished out nine dimes in USF's win over St. Cloud State, posted seven more in the Cougars' victory over top-seeded MSU Moorhead, and added six assists in the semifinal win over Wayne State.