SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (10-4, 5-3 NSIC), which has won eight-of-11 games, will hit the road for games at Minnesota State (5-7, 2-6 NSIC) on Friday, Jan. 11, and Concordia-St. Paul (9-4, 5-3 NSIC) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.   

Last weekend, USF ended a three-game NSIC losing streak in a big way with a sweep of Wayne State, 81-59, and Augustana, 65-60, at the Stewart Center.

In the win over Wayne State, junior guard Jessie Geer set a career-best by scoring 26 points and lead USF to the 22-point home win. Geer, who added six points and five assists in a 65-60 win over Augustana was named the NSIC Women's South Division Player of the Week.

In defeating the nationally-ranked Vikings, USF had 18 points from Kaely Hummel and 12 off the bench from Andi Mataloni, who hit a trio of three-pointers. Also for USF, which now has split the last 12 meetings with Augustana, received nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals from junior guard Augusta Thramer.

How USF fares in NSIC stats
Heading into play this weekend, the Cougars rank fourth in the league with 72.6 points per game while allowing 57.4 for fifth. As a result, USF sits second in the NSIC in scoring margin at 15.1 points per game. In USF's 10 points, they have had just one game - Augustana - decided by five points or fewer and two games decided by nine points or less. USF, which defeated Concordia-St. Paul, 83-74 on Dec., 7,has eight victories by double-digit totals with with wins of 46 points or more. In that win over CSP, USF head coach Travis Traphagen picked up his 200th career win at USF. In USF's four losses, all have occurred by double-digit variety (12, 16, 25, 16).  Through 14 games, USF is outshooting opponents, 41.3 percent to 37.0 percent. USF ranks seventh in the NSIC in rebounding at 39.1 boards per game and lead the league in turnover margin at 6.93 (11.9-to-18.9). USF also ranks third in steals at 9.36.

Opponents Notes - MSU and CSP

As for MSU, which USF faces Friday, the Mavericks rank second in the league with 75.7 points per game but allow 70.3 points per game, which ranks 15th. MSU, which is led in scoring by Taylor Drost at 11.1 ppg, have three straight losses after falling to CSP, 65-54, on Dec. 30 in St. Paul and taking two more road losses last weekend against Minot State, 93-87 in overtime, and U-Mary, 85-71.

Concordia-St. Paul is tied with USF for second in the South Division. Last weekend, they fell to U-Mary, 74-62, but defeated Minot State, 58-46. CSP ranks eighth in the league with 67.1 points per game and seventh in scoring defense with 60.8 points allowed.  Lindsey Dorr is the league's third leading scorer at 17.7 points and third in the league in rebounds at 10.4 per game. Guard Anna Schmitt is adding 14.4 points per game.

USF leads MSU in all-time series, 8-5
In the first meeting this season, USF took an 80-68 win over Minnesota State as both Kaely Hummel and Mariah Szymanski scored 20 points. After trailing 18-7 early, the Cougars outscored the Mavericks, 24-12 in the second quarter and build a 15-point lead by the fourth quarter. Prior to that meeting, The win gave USF its seventh win in the past eight meetings with the Mavericks. In the final regular season game last year at the Stewart Center, MSU took a dramatic 61-60 win over the Cogars as Taylor Klug hit a baseline jumper from 10 feet at the buzzer to record the win. USF was led by Szymanski who scored 20 points, including a lead-changing lay-up with 2.2 seconds to play. MSU's win snapped a six-game losing streak to USF. In the last meeting at MSU, the Cougars defeated the Mavericks, 74-71 as Hummel scored 18 points while Jacey Huinker had 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Cougars won the first meeting between the schools, 77-64, at Minnesota State on Dec. 15, 2012, before dropping the next four contests.  

CSP holds 9-4 series lead over USF
On Dec., 7, USF defeated CSP, 83-74, as Kaely Hummel had 25 points and Gloria Mulumba added 17 in a game played at the Stewart Center. After a winless streak of six games against Concordia-St. Paul, the Cougars have won five of the last eight meetings with the Golden Bears. USF earned their first victory over CSP with a double-overtime 87-79 win on Feb. 21 of 2015. In their 2016 contest, Mariah Szymanski scored a USF record 43 points and led the Cougars to an 84-56 win in St. Paul, Minn. On Feb. 16, 2018 at the Stewart Center, CSP took a 74-56 decision as they shot 56 percent. Lindsey Dorr had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Bears while Anna Schmitt added 19. USF had 12 points from Jacey Huinker and 11 from Hummel.  

USF's Hummel ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring
Hummel ranks fifth in the league with 15.6 points per game and is third in the NSIC  in free throw shooting at 87.9 percent with 29 made foul shots on 33 attempted. In USF's DII era, she ranks second with 155 made three-pointers and third in points with 922 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. 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 all-time points leader was Courtney Farrell with 2,433 points from 2002-05. She is the only USF player with 2000 points in her career. Hummel has played in 73 games with 71 starts. She has 52 career double-digit scoring games with 13 this season in 14 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 8.4 points per game while shooting at a 39.8 percent clip. She has totaled 24 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. In addition, she had a third record in the game with 14 made field goals in 20 attempts.  Szymanski, who has a season-high of 20 points against Minnesota State on Dec. 8, has 96 career three-pointers with the opportunity this weekend to reach the 100 mark.

USF Individual Notes -- Geer named NSIC Women's South Division Player of the Week
Freshman Krystal Carlson, who is averaging 5.1 points and 3.5 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 5.5 points per game, is fourth on the team in rebounding with 3.3 per game. Sophomore forward Anna Goodhope is supplying 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for USF. Goodhope, who prepped at Sioux Falls Washington, has one double-digit scoring game with 11 points against South Dakota Mines on Nov. 16. Jessie Geer, the reigning NSIC Women's South Division Player of the Week, is suppling 7.1 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. She has reached double digits three times with 26 points against Wayne State her career high. In that game, she had 20 points by halftime.