MANKATO – Anna Goodhope scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (11-4, 6-3 NSIC) to its third straight win with a 81-71 road decision over Minnesota State (5-8, 2-7 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play at the Taylor Center on Friday night.

In a career-best performance, Goodhope hit a career-best 10 field goals on 19 attempts and was especially on fire from three-point distance. Goodhope, a redshirt sophomore from Sioux Falls, S.D., hit a career-high 7-of-13 threes and added nine rebounds with three assists, a block and a steal in 35 minutes.  She was joined in double-digits by junior guard Jessie Geer, the reigning NSIC South Division Player of the Week, with 12 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, Junior guard Mariah Szymanski added 11 points with four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

With the victory, USF remained in a tie with Concordia St. Paul for second place in the NSIC South. USF will tangle with the Golden Bears in St. Paul on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.

Against MSU, the Cougars earned a sweep of the regular season series and now have won 9-of-14 in the all-time series. USF won the game against MSU, 80-68, at the Stewart Center on Dec. 8.

"I am pleased with how hard we worked tonight to get a road win," said USF Head Coach Travis Traphagen, who now has 205 career wins at USF. "Anna (Goodhope) was really good tonight on offense, getting some crucial rebounds and leading the way when we needed some points in the fourth quarter.  Jessie (Geer) also came up huge and we found our way to pick up a win on the road," noted Traphagen.

USF built a 23-18 lead after one quarter, and with a 15-10 edge in the second quarter, led, 38-28, at halftime. Goodhope had nine points in the first quarter and 15 by halftime. USF was outscored, 19-18, in the third quarter as MSU cut the lead to 56-47. After MSU scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 56 (7:46, 4th), USF responded with a 17-5 run for a 73-61 lead with 3:21 left in the game. In that run, Geer scored six straight points and Goodhope knocked in a pair of three pointers to help USF regain a double-digit lead and pick up their 11^th win of the season and sixth in nine league games.

In a game USF led from start to finish, except for the fourth quarter tie, USF hit 46.8 percent from the floor on 29-of-62 shooting. The Cougars knocked in 13-of-35 from three-point range for 37.1 percent.  The 13 3's by five different USF players tied the team's second-best total of the season. USF, which had a 36-34 rebound edge, registered 12 steals and recorded four blocks.

MSU, which lost for a fourth straight game, was led by Taylor Drost with 20 points.  Monica Muth added 14 for the Mavericks, which hit 41.4 percent from the field on 24-of-58 shooting. They were 6-of-13 from three-point range and 17-of-19 at the foul line.

Game Breakdown –

In the opening quarter, USF hit 9-of-17 field goals (52.9 percent) and made four treys, to build a 23-18 lead. USF had a strong start against MSU by hitting 4-of-5 shots to open the contest. With two three-pointers from Goodhope, who scored nine points in the opening quarter, and another three-ball by Szymanski, USF took an 11-9 lead with 6:38 to play in the first quarter.  With 4:54 on the clock, Hummel, who finished with eight points, knocked in a trey as USF built a 17-11 lead. Off a steal by Augusta Thramer, Gloria Mulumba, who had six points in the quarter and nine in the game, made a lay-up to give USF a 21-14 lead at the 2:45 mark.

On back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, Goodhope knocked in her third (8:04) and fourth (7:57) three-pointers of the game as USF increased its edge to 29-18.  With those baskets, Goodhope set her career high at USF.

Later at 6:01 of the quarter, Andi Mataloni, who had six points and three rebounds, came off the bench and made a three for a 32-20 lead. However, USF had a 2:28 scoreless streak as the Mavericks cut the lead back to 32-24 until Mulumba made a pair of foul shots (3:33). 

Hummel ended USF's five-minute streak without a field goal with USF's eighth three pointer of the first half for a 38-28 lead (1:21, 2^nd), which they took to the half-time break. USF made 4-of-13 field goals in the second quarter. In the opening two quarters USF was at 43.3 percent on 13-of-30 shooting from the field with 8-of-20 from three-pointer range. However, USF which was outrebounded, 21-19, made just 4-of-9 shots from the foul line.

In the third quarter, USF maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the third quarter. Goodhope's lay-up at the 7:39 mark helped USF to a 45-33 advantage. A minute later Geer made a lay-up for a 47-34 margin. MSU responded with an 8-2 run to trim USF's lead to 49-42 at the 3:48 mark. USF's Mataloni answered with a three and a jumper from Szymanski helped the Cougars retake a 54-42 lead with 1:30 left on the clock.  Then, MSU closed the quarter with a 5-0 run, including a three from Tayla Stuttley with 21 seconds left, to cut the margin to 56-47 at the break.

In the fourth quarter, MSU opened the quarter with nine straight points and tied the game at 56. But led by six points from Geer and a three from Lauren Sanders, USF took a 65-56 lead. However, Drost answered with a three by as the Mavericks cut the lead to six points (65-59). 

Then, Goodhope stepped up by converting her sixth (4:54) and seventh triples (3:21) of the game. Later, Geer had a steal and off an assist from Goodhope, converted the basket for a 75-64 lead with 1:51 to play, which gave USF a third win over MSU in the past four matchups.