SIOUX FALLS – Jessie Geer scored a career-high 26 points, including 20 in a game-turning first half, as the University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (9-4, 4-3 NSIC) registered a dominating 81-59 win over Wayne State at the Stewart Center on Friday in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.

With the victory, the Cougars ended a three-game conference losing streak and moved to 4-3 in league play and moved into a tie for second in the NSIC South.

In her last league game against SMSU, Geer set her career-best with 15 points. But tonight, Geer nearly doubled her previous high as she had 26 points with three rebounds, two assists and three steals. Geer, who set a season team-high for points, hit 11-of-20 field goals and had 4-of-8 from three-point range with her field goals, field goal attempts, and made threes all career-highs.

The Cougars rallied late in the first quarter to take a 16-14 lead and then put together a 28-9 run in the second quarter to turn the game in their favor. WSC outscored USF, 21-20, in the third quarter before USF had a 17-15 edge in the fourth quarter to take the decision win and pick up its fifth win in 15 match ups with the Wildcats.

"I was really pleased with the way our offense operated tonight," said USF Head Coach Travis Traphagen, who now has 203 career wins. "Jessie (Geer) had a really special night and it was fun to see her have another big game. Overall, we had a solid effort on both offense and defense. It was a nice way to rebound and get back on track in league play," he said.

The Cougars, which will host city rival Augustana on Saturday at 4 p.m., at the Stewart Center, also had 12 points from Kaely Hummel, who was 5-of-13 from the floor but tied a career high with eight rebounds. Her effort on the board helped USF take a 42-37 edge over Wildcats. USF, which received 23 points off the bench, also shared the ball effectively with 20 assists on 33 made baskets.

"I thought we were effective on the boards and battled all night," said Traphagen, whose team dominated in the paint with a 40-28 points edge and also had a 30-to-10 edge in points off turnovers and a 15-6 margin on fast break points. "We will need to continue that kind of effort moving forward with a big city rivalry matchup tomorrow," he said.

The Cougars made 33-of-71 from the floor for 46.5 percent and were 9-of-25 from three-point range for 36 percent. USF, which had just nine turnovers, also had six blocks and six steals against the Wildcats.

As for WSC, they were held to just 34.4 percent from the field as they made 21-of-61 field goals, including 6-of-18 from three-point range. They were led by Brittany Bongartz with 14 points while Erin Norling added 12 points.

GAME BREAKDOWN --
With 7:40 to play first quarter, Anna Goodhope, who scored nine points with three rebounds, knocked in a three as USF tied Wayne State at 5-5. With five straight points by Geer to close the first quarter, USF took a 16-14 lead over the Wildcats.

Early in the second quarter, Geer collected a turnover and hit a lay-up and then followed with a jumper from the lane as the Cougars had an 8-0 run for a 20-14 lead at the 8:14 mark.  Later, Geer dropped in a lay-up off an assist from Augusta Thramer for a 29-23 lead with 5:25 on the clock. 

From that point, the Cougars took off their decision game-changing run. Off the next 4:30, USF had a 17-0 run to take a 21 point half-time lead at 44-23. To open the run, Hummel hit a jumper in the lane and with the "and 1" helped USF to a 32-23 lead. Goodhope converted a turnaround jumper with 3:20 on the clock as the Cougars pushed the advantage to a 34-23.

Then, Geer hit another three and Mariah Szymanski, who had five assists, two rebounds and five points, knocked a three in from top of the key for a 40-23 lead with 1:30 on the clock.  Those plays were followed by freshman center Kiara James hitting a lane jumper for a 42-23 lead with a minute left. Geer promptly stole a pass and converted a lay-up as the Cougars had a half-closing 17-0 run and the 44-23 halftime lead.

In the second quarter, USF shot 54.5 percent on 12-of-22 shooting and were led by the spirited play of Geer, who scored a career-high for a half with 20 points, which at that point was also her career-high at USF. Geer, who added six points in the second half, was 9-of-14 from the floor and hit 2-of-4 from three point range in the opening 20 minutes. Goodhope added seven points and two rebounds and Hummel had five points and five rebounds with two assists. Overall in the first half, USF was 19-of-43 for 44.2 percent and 5-of-13 from three-point range. Importantly, the Cougars had a 25-20 rebound edge and forced 10 turnovers but committed just three themselves.

With the first shot of the second half, Hummel knocked down a free-throw extended jumper for a 46-23 lead.  At that point, the Wildcats rallied and scored 10 straight points to cut USF's lead to 48-35 with 7:32 to play.  After a number of defensive stops at both ends, Geer hit another three and USF took a 54-36 lead with 3:40 to play.  Jasmine Harris followed with a jumper as the Cougars pushed the lead to 58-36 (2:08). After WSC's Kylie Hammer hit a three with 11 seconds left, Geer had the answer at the other end with a long three from beyond the top of the key which provided USF with a 64-44 lead after three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats cut the lead under 20 points at 66-48 (8:13) on a lay-up by Norling. However, every WSC basket was answered in kind on the USF end. With 3:17 to play, Harris, who had eight points, two rebounds and a blocked shot, made a pair of foul shots for a 76-52 lead. A three-pointer by Lauren Sanders with 1:21 to play gave USF its biggest lead of the night at 25 points (81-56).