SIOUX FALLS – Looking to bounce back from a pair of tough losses at home, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball heads to the road for the return trips against two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference south division opponents. The Cougars (8-4, 5-3 NSIC) seek their ninth consecutive win against Upper Iowa (2-11, 0-8 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa. In the rematch of the Cougars' buzzer-beating victory at home, USF will face Winona State (11-1, 7-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. with hopes of handing the Warriors their second loss of the season.
 
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

• With two consecutive losses entering the weekend, the Cougars are looking to avoid a three-game losing streak, which would be just the second time in the past three years that they have lost three or more games in a row.
• Heading into Friday's game at Upper Iowa, USF has won eight straight over Upper Iowa and are 4-1 in Dorman Gymnasium
• Looking ahead to Saturday's game, USF has won two straight over Winona State, but have never defeated the Warriors in Winona, Minn. (0-5)
• Kaely Hummel extended her streak of double-figure scoring games to all 12 contests this season and she is at 22 double-digit scoring games in her career
• After an 8-for-8 showing at the free throw line this weekend, Hummel has hit 23 straight free throws and ranks sixth in NCAA Division II with a 93.9 free throw percentage this season
• Mariah Szymanski scored career-highs in both games this past weekend and tied the USF Division II scoring record with 31 points against Augustana
• Since earning her first career start at Southwest Minnesota State (12/16), Szymanski is averaging 17.3 points per game
• Lauren Sanders's streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer ended when she went 0-for-3 against Augustana – Hummel owns the top mark for USF with seven straight games
• Jacey Huinker shared a lead for team-high in rebounds in both games this past weekend, making it 10 of 11 games in which she has played that she has shared the team lead for
• Against Augustana, Huinker recorded 8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, the second time she has recorded a 'three-by-five', joining her 5-point, 9-rebound, 5-assist night against Upper Iowa
• Huinker is one of two USF players to record five or more in three different categories this season (Jasmine Harris vs. Presentation – 10 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) and the only player to do it twice
• Huinker's assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.40 (34 assists-to-10 turnovers) leads the NSIC and ranks third in NCAA Division II as the only non-guard in the top 30

 
Series Histories
                  vs. Upper Iowa – USF leads 10-1
Sioux Falls extended their winning streak to eight straight victories over Upper Iowa when they handed the Peacocks an 83-41 defeat on Dec. 2, earlier this season. The winning streak also pushed USF's edge over the Peacocks in the series to 10-1, dropping the only game, 78-75, in Fayette, Iowa on Dec. 14, 2013. The Cougars responded to the loss with eight straight victories, which includes three road victories. This year, Lauren Sanders hit five 3-pointers and led a trio of Cougars in double digits with 20 points to pace USF to the 43-point victory. As a team, the Cougars hit 15 three-point shots with six different players connecting from deep and five hitting multiple 3-pointers. The Cougars have won the last three games at Upper Iowa and are 4-1 in games hosted by the Peacocks. While the Cougars hold a 17.8 margin of victory in their 10 victories over Upper Iowa, on the road, USF's scoring margin is just 6.4 in games in Dorman Gymnasium.
 
                  vs. Winona State – WSU leads 6-5
Sioux Falls pulled within one game of ever-developing NSIC south division rival Winona State when they handed the Warriors their first loss of the season, 61-60, on Dec. 1, 2017. Despite winning the last two matchups, Winona State holds a 6-5 edge over the Cougars in the six years they have played as NSIC adversaries. WSU defeated USF, 47-44, in the first meeting on Jan. 5, 2013, and the Cougars returned the favor with a 53-49 victory at home later that season. As the series suggests, the majority of matchups between Sioux Falls and Winona State have yielded close games. Seven of the 11 games have been separated by one possession and the last two games have been decided by one point. However, USF has yet to win a game at Winona State in five tries, going 0-5 at McKown Gymnasium. They lost a pair of three-point decisions in the first two road meetings before suffering three consecutive double-digit losses at WSU. On Saturday, USF will look to end that road losing streak and push their winning stretch from two straight victories to three in a row. This year, Jasmine Harris scored a career-best 22 points – in just her fifth career collegiate game – including the game-winning layup with less than a second on the clock. Mariah Szymanski scored 12 points off the bench and Kaely Hummel scored 10 to help USF to the win.

Szymanski seizes starting opportunity, ties USF Division II single-game scoring record
Since joining the USF Women's Basketball out of Pulaski, Wis., sophomore Mariah Szymanski has been a staple for the Cougars, appearing in all 42 games over the past two years. As a freshman, the 5-foot-7 guard averaged 3.4 points per game, scoring 102 while playing just more than 10 minutes per game. In her first eight games of this season, Szymanski saw an increased role, averaging 13.1 minutes per contest and her scoring jumped to 6.0 points per game, including a pair of double-digit outings. With season-opener starting point guard Jasmine Harris out for the season, Szymanski stepped into that role and has been stellar ever since. She has scored in double-digits three of four games since her first career start and accomplished what just three other USF Women's Basketball players have in USF's Division II tenure. Szymanski's 31 points against Augustana tied the USF D2 single game record and she is one of three Cougars to score 30+ in a game (Sam Knecht – 31 pts vs Minnesota State, 1/23/16; Taylor Varsho – 30 pts vs Minnesota Crookston, 2/5/16; Taylor Varsho – 30 pts vs Minot State 12/11/15).
 
Szymanski was averaging 5.9 points before her first start and she is averaging 9.7 now. In four games as a starter, she is averaging 17.3 points per game and she has played in 34.0 minutes per game. Her field goal percentage has jumped from 32.7 percent to 44.8 percent as a starter. She has handed out 11 of her 20 total assists this season in the four games she has started and she has grabbed 12 of the 22 total rebounds this season in four games as a starter.
 
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.