SIOUX FALLS – With stingy defense, clutch baskets from their big-time scoring duo, and big efforts from unheralded bench players, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball snapped a four-game losing streak with 64-59 overtime victory over No. 5 Augustana. The Cougars clinch a winning record for the fourth straight season, improving to 14-9 overall, including an 11-8 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which also guarantees them a top-four finish in the NSIC south division and inside track to hosting rights in the NSIC Tournament first round.
 
USF's victory over the fifth-ranked Vikings is the highest ranked team the Cougars has beaten in their NCAA Division II tenure, which began in 2012-13. The previous top victory was USF's 75-69 win over No. 9 Wayne State in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals on March 1, 2014.
 
The cross-town rivalry lived up to its billing as the Cougars pulled within one game of the Vikings in the Division II-era series. In the 13 matchups between the two programs since USF joined the NSIC and began regular competition against the Vikings, Augustana leads 7-6. In the last six regular season meetings between USF and Augustana, the visiting team has won. Over the last three years, USF holds a 4-3 edge when including the NSIC Tournament championship game victory in 2016.
 
Heading into Friday's game, NSIC overall leader Augustana (21-2, 17-2 NSIC) boasted the NSIC's top offense, averaging more than 81 points per game. However, a combination of head coach Travis Traphagen and staff's game plan and overall effort from the Cougar players, USF held the Vikings to a season-low 59 points, and 54 in the regulation 40 minutes. The Cougars held Augustana to 27 percent shooting (20-74) and dominated the rebounding battle, picking up 56 total rebounds, including 45 on the defensive end, and holding a plus-19 edge on rebounds for the game.
 
Part of the reason for USF's defensive success was the effort of a pair of unexpected contributors. Freshmen Amanda Dagostino and Abby Slater played a combined 30 minutes in six total appearances each. Against the No. 5 team in NCAA Division II, Dagostino and Slater played a combined 34 minutes, including 25 from Dagostino, who finished with four points, seven rebounds, one block and one assist. With just more than two minutes left in overtime, Dagostino broke a 57-57 tie, grabbing a rebound and taking the ball coast-to-coast for a left-handed layup. The clutch basket gave the Cougars a lead they would not relinquish en route to the key victory.
 
Powering the offense, which was efficient despite a conference season-low four three pointers, was the dynamic sophomore duo of Mariah Szymanski and Kaely Hummel. After scoring 31 points against Augustana earlier this season, Szymanski led all scorers with 23 points. Hummel was held below her scoring average with 13 points, but late free throws helped the Cougars ice the game. Augusta Thramer battled foul trouble all game before her late points pushed her into double figures and answered key baskets from the Vikings. Thramer scored the first three points of overtime, including a layup that tied the game before Dagostino's go-ahead layup.
 
After Shelby Selland, who led Augustana with 18 points, scored the first five points for AU, Szymanski and Hummel pushed ahead and helped the Cougars build a lead. Down 5-3 after Hummel's 3-pointer, Szymanski scored nine straight for a seven-point USF lead. Jacey Huinker, who finished with eight rebounds, connected on a free throw before Szymanski assisted on Lauren Sanders's 3-pointer then scored a layup in the closing seconds for an 18-9 lead through one quarter.
 
Szymanski then pushed the Cougar lead to double digits with a layup on the opening possession. The potent Vikings began to fight back, cutting their deficit to six points before Szymanski and Hummel each hit mid-range jumpers. Thramer sank a pair of free throws and Sanders found Moira Duffy for a layup for a 13-point USF advantage. Beating the shot clock for the final points of the first half, Andi Mataloni hit a 3-pointer off a Huinker pass with 1:32 left in the half and the Cougars entered halftime with a 33-21 lead.
 
Right out of the break, USF extended their lead to its largest point, using Hummel's second 3-pointer and a Szymanski jumper to go ahead 38-23. Duffy and Thramer answered Augustana baskets to keep their advantage at 15 points with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter. However, Augustana began a furious comeback, scoring 11 unanswered points to cut the Cougar lead to 42-38 after the third quarter.
 
USF's once-double-digit lead was completely erased as the Vikings opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to take their first lead since early in the first quarter. From that point on, the teams traded baskets, answering each advance by their cross-town rival. Hummel's layup and Thramer's two free throws built a three-point USF lead, but five straight by the Vikings turned that to a two-point advantage for AU. Dagostino tied the game with her first points of the game, Thramer followed with a strep-through layup and Szymanski capped off the quick six-point burst with two free throws for a 54-50 lead with 3:16 left in the game.
 
USF forced a turnover but couldn't score on the following possession, allowing the Vikings to cut their deficit in half with a Presley O'Farrell layup. One possession later, Selland tied the game at 54-54 with a layup at the 1:27 mark of the fourth quarter. Both defenses tightened in the waning seconds and Szymanski's step through floater rimmed out with seven seconds left and O'Farrell's last second layup came up short to force overtime.
 
Thramer's three points – a free throw and layup – surrounded Selland's 3-pointer to keep the game tied at 57-57. Dagostino broke that tie with her coast-to-coast layup and the Cougars would not trail for the remainder of the game. Hummel sank two free throws after taking a hard foul on a breakaway layup attempt with 34 seconds left in the game, but they were answered by O'Farrell's two foul shots to keep the Cougars up two, 61-59. The Sioux Falls defense then carried them to victory as Hummel and Szymanski combined for three free throws and USF shut out the Vikings in their final three possessions.
 
Sioux Falls now heads to Wayne, Neb. for a 4 p.m. game at Wayne State on Saturday, Feb. 10.