SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (11-5, 6-4 NSIC), which has won four-of-six games, will host U-Mary (9-4, 7-3 NSIC) at 5:30 p.m., on Friday (Jan. 18) and Minot State (6-10, 1-9 NSIC) at 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 18 in cross division Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchups at the Stewart Center

Last weekend (Jan. 11-12), the Cougars finished 1-1, including a 81-71 win at Minnesota State as Anna Goodhope had a career-high 28 points with nine rebounds. Goodhope also made a career-high seven three-pointers in 13 attempts. The Cougars had 14 points from Mariah Szymanski and a career-first double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds from Goodhope in a 69-64 loss at Concordia-St. Paul.

How things stand

The Cougars stand 6-4 in the NSIC South and sit in third place. In this cross division match up, the Cougars will face U-Mary, which is 9-4 overall and 7-3 in league play for third in the North Division.  Last weekend, the Marauders dropped a 78-71 decision to Minnesota-Duluth and fell, 83-70, to St. Cloud State.  U-Mary center Gabbie Bohl had 54 total points to lead the Marauders. Minot State dropped a 67-60 decision to St. Cloud State and fell, 79-51, to  Minnesota Duluth. USF, which has a 6-1 home mark, defeated Wayne State, 81-59, and South Division leader and city rival Augustana, 65-60, two weekends ago in their last home games.    

Heading into play this weekend, the Cougars rank fourth in the league with 72.6 points per game while allowing 59.0 points per game for sixth in the NSIC in defensive scoring. The Cougars, which rank second in scoring margin in the league at 13.6 ppg, have had just two games - Augustana (65-60 win) and Concordia-St. Paul (69-64 loss) - decided by five points or fewer and three games decided by nine points or less. USF, which defeated Concordia-St. Paul, 83-74 on Dec., 7, has nine victories by double-digit totals with four wins of 46 points or more. In the Dec. 7 home win over CSP, USF head coach Travis Traphagen picked up his 200th career win at USF. In USF's five losses, four have occurred by double-digit variety (12, 16, 25, 16).  Through 16 games, USF is outshooting opponents, 41.5 percent to 37.4 percent. USF ranks seventh in the NSIC in rebounding at 38.9 boards per game and lead the league in turnover margin at 6.25.

As for U-Mary, which USF faces Friday, the Mavericks rank third in the league with 74.2 points per game but allow 66.1 points per game, which ranks ninth. U-Mary, which is directed by head coach Rick Neumann, has opened 9-4 and 7-3 in league play.  The Marauders, which are led by the NSIC's leading scorer Gabbie Bohl at 20.1 points per game, rank third with 74.5 points per game for third in the NSIC.  Bohl is also seventh in the league with 9.2 rebounds per game. U-Mary also has had a strong season from forward Cassie Askvig, who averages 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds (fourth in the NSIC).

Minot State, which is directed by Mark Graupe, is 6-10 overall and 1-9 in the league. They are led by Kari Clements and Madison Wald, who rank 10th and 11th in the NSIC in scoring at 13.8 points per game.  The Beavers average 64.9 ppg for 11th in the NSIC

U-Mary leads USF, 4-3, in series
USF trails all-time series to U-Mary, 4-3. In the most recent game, USF rallied from a  28-20 halftime deficit by outscoring the Marauders, 40-22 in the second half in a 60-50 victory at the Stewart Center on Feb. 21 in the first round of the NSIC Postseason Tournament.  Mariah Szymanski and Kaely Hummel both scored 20 points to lead USF to the tournament win. A year ago on Feb. 2 at USF, Hummel had 19 points but USF fell to U-Mary, 76-71.  The Marauders won the first meeting between the two programs, 76-75, on Feb. 9, 2013. After two more wins, USF earned their first victory over U-Mary, 69-67, on Dec. 12, 2015. The Cougars won their second straight game, 65-60, the following season. In the seven meetings between the two programs, four of the games have been decided by five or fewer points. At home, USF is 2-2 against the Marauders.   

USF - Minot State series tied at 3-3
USF and Minot State are tied 3-3 in the all-time series. In the most recent meeting on Feb. 3, 2018, the Cougars dropped a 72-64 decision to the Minot State. Szymanski had 20 points and Hummel, 12, for USF. MSU was led by Holly Johnson with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Before that setback, the Cougars had won the previous three contests, including two by double digits. MSU took the first matchup, 75-70, on Feb, 8, 2013 at the Stewart Center, then won their second straight with a 68-67 win in Minot, N.D. The Cougars notched their first head-to—head win over MSU with a 71-61 decision in the 2014-15 season rolled to an 87-54 victory in the 2015-16 campaign. In 2016-17, Szymanski had 14 and Hummel, 12 to lead USF, which won 61-58.   

USF's Hummel ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring
Hummel ranks fifth in the league with 15.0 points per game. In USF's DII era, she ranks second with 160 made three-pointers and third in points with 943 points. USF's all-time three-point shot leader is Laura Johnson with 259 from 2010-14 when she scored 1,402 points, which ranks fifth all-time. Taylor Varsho is USF's DII leader in points and three-pointers with 1,379 points (7th, all-time at USF), including 245 treys, from 2014-16. USF's career points leader is Courtney Farrell with 2,433 points from 2002-05. She is the only USF player with 2000 points. Hummel has played in 75 games with 73 starts. She has 53 career double-digit scoring games with 14 this season in 16 outings. She set a career-high with 29 points against Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 13, 2018. Her high for 2018-19 is 25 against Concordia S. Paul on Dec. 7.

Syzmanski ranks second on USF in scoring
Mariah Szymanski, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, is second on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game while shooting at a 38.9 percent clip. She has totaled 26 career double-digit scoring games with 11 of 15 points or more and eight over 20 points. She set a school record with 43 points in a win over Concordia-St. Paul on Jan. 20, 2018. In that game she set a school record with nine made three-pointers in 10 attempts.
 
USF Individual Notes - Goodhope sets careers highs with 28 points and seven treys
Sophomore forward Anna Goodhope is coming off her best weekend at USF when she averaged 19.5 points and 10 rebounds as the Cougars split two road games. Goodhope, who prepped at Sioux Falls Washington, had a career-high 28 points with nine rebounds in a win over Minnesota State. Against CSP on Jan. 12, she had her first career double double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. She is scoring 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds overall but has scored 8.2 points and grabbed 5.8 rebounds in 10 league games.  

Junior guard Jessie Geer is suppling 7.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. She has reached double digits five times with 26 points against Wayne State her career high. In that game, she had 20 points by halftime. Last weekend, she had 12 points in both games.

Freshman Krystal Carlson, who is averaging 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, has three double digit games with a career-best 20 points against SMSU on Dec. 1, 2018. Junior forward Gloria Mulumba, who is averaging 5.9 points per game, is fourth on the team in rebounding with 3.4 per game.