USF WBB set for weekend road matchups against UIU and WSU
SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (12-6, 7-5 NSIC), which has won five-of-eight games, will travel to Upper Iowa (3-17, 0-12 NSIC) for a 5:30 p.m., contest on Friday (Jan. 25). They will then turn around and face Winona State (8-8, 6-6 NSIC) at 3:30 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 26 in a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division road matchups.
Last weekend (Jan. 18-19), the Cougars finished 1-1, including a 59-55 win against Minot State as Kaely Hummel scored 18 points, including a pair of foul shots with 2.3 seconds to play. In her first start of the season, junior guard Augusta Thramer had a season-high 14 points along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Anna Goodhope added nine points, six rebounds and two blocks while junior guard Mariah Szymanski supplied nine points and three rebounds. The Cougars had 19 points from Hummel and 10 points from junior guard Mariah Szymanski, who added four assists and three rebounds, in a 70-63 loss to U-Mary.
How things stand
The Cougars stand 7-5 in the NSIC South and tied with Wayne State for third in the division. In the South Division matchup on Friday, USF faces UIU, which is 3-17 overall and 0-12 in league play for eighth. Last weekend, the Peacocks dropped a 65-56 decision to Bemidji State and fell, 75-64, to Minnesota-Crookston. UIU junior forward Bekka Pierson had 21 total points to lead the Peacocks. Winona State defeated Minnesota-Crookston, 76-64, and fell, 61-57, to Bemidji State. USF, which has a 4-3 away mark, defeated Minnesota State, 81-71, and fell to Concordia-St. Paul, 69-64, two weekends ago in their last away games.
Heading into play this weekend, the Cougars rank fourth in the league with 71.3 points per game while allowing 59.3 points per game for sixth in the NSIC in defensive scoring. The Cougars, which sit second in scoring margin in the league at 11.9 ppg, have had just three games - Augustana (65-60 win), Concordia-St. Paul (69-64 loss) and Minot State (59-54 loss) - decided by five points or fewer and five 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 six losses, four have occurred by double-digit variety (12, 16, 25, 16). Through 18 games, USF is outshooting opponents, 41.2 percent to 38.2 percent. USF ranks eighth in the NSIC in rebounding at 37.5 boards per game and lead the league in turnover margin at 6.61.
As for Upper Iowa, which USF faces Friday, the Peacocks rank last in the NSIC in scoring offense (53.9 points per game), scoring margin (-16.9), field goal percentage (.352) and assists (10.59). UIU ranks fifth in the conference in blocks, averaging 5.73 per contest. The Peacocks are led by sophomore guard Natalie Dinius, as well as sophomore center Savannah Domeyer, who average 9.9 and 9.3 points per game respectively. UIU is directed by interim head coach Kelly Kielsmeier who began his first season with the Peacocks four games ago.
Winona State, which is directed by Scott Ballard, is 8-8 overall and 6-6 in the league. They are led by Rachel Novotny and Kayla Schaefer, who rank 28th and 29th in the NSIC in scoring at 11.2 at 10.8 points per game. The Warriors average 63.9 ppg for 12th in the NSIC while holding teams to only shooting for a field-goal percentage of .371, which ranks third in the conference.
USF leads Upper Iowa, 11-1, in series
Sioux Falls extended their winning streak to nine straight victories over Upper Iowa when they held off UIU for a 60-46 victory in their second matchup in the 2017 season behind 23 points from Hummel, including 12 in the fourth quarter. USF handed the Peacocks an 83-41 defeat on Dec. 2, earlier that season. The winning streak also pushed USF's edge over the Peacocks in the series to 11-1, dropping the only game, 78-75, in Fayette, Iowa on Dec. 14, 2013. The Cougars responded to the loss with nine straight victories, which includes four road victories. The Cougars have won the last four games at Upper Iowa and are 5-1 in games hosted by the Peacocks.
Winona State leads USF, 7-5, in series
USF fell in their last matchup against WSU, 59-51, despite 14 points from Hummel and 12 from Andi Mataloni. In the first of two matchups in the 2017 campaign, Sioux Falls pulled defeated the Warriors, 61-60, on Dec. 1, WSU 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 12 games have been separated by one possession and the last three games have been decided by one point. However, USF has yet to win a game at Winona State in six tries, going 0-6 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.
USF's Hummel ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring; approaching 1K in points
Hummel ranks fifth in the league with 15.4 points per game. In USF's DII era, she ranks second with 165 made three-pointers and third in points with 980 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 77 games with 75 starts. She has 55 career double-digit scoring games with 16 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 39.2 percent clip. She has totaled 27 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
Sophomore forward Anna Goodhope had her best weekend at USF last road trip 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 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds overall but has scored 8.3 points and grabbed 5.8 rebounds in 12 league games.
Junior guard Jessie Geer is supplying 7.2 points and 1.8 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. During USF's last road matchups, she had 12 points in both games.
In her first start of the season against Minot State on Jan. 19, junior guard Augusta Thramer had a season-high 14 points along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Thramer pulls down 3.8 rebounds per game, which is third on the team, while also averaging 3.7 points per game.
Freshman Krystal Carlson, who is averaging 3.9 points and 2.8 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 5.8 points per game, is fourth on the team in rebounding with 3.3 per game.
