SIOUX FALLS — The No. 19 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (4-0) will take to the court on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Oahu on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The Cougars will face three opponents in three days at "The Shark Tank," Hawai'i Pacific's home gymnasium, in Honolulu. The three games are a part of the Malika Sports Tour Oahu Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Malika Sports Tour.
On Tuesday (Nov. 26) the Cougars received their highest national ranking since joining NCAA Division II as they were ranked No. 19 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top-25 Poll. USF also moved into the No. 21 spot in the D2SIDA National Poll. USF was also ranked No. 3 in the D2SIDA Central Region poll released today.
The Rundown (2019-20 Record, Conference)-
Tues., Nov. 26, 10 p.m. vs. Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans (1-0, PacWest Conference)
Wed., Nov. 27, 8:30 p.m. vs. (RV) Hawai'i Pacific Sharks (4-0, PacWest Conference)
Thur., Nov. 28, 4 p.m. vs. Chaminade Silverswords (0-3, PacWest Conference)
Watch Live-
In an agreement with Malika Sports Tours, Hawai'i Pacific will have a pay-per-view video stream available via Stretch at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hpusharks/. The cost is the base $7.95 per game.
Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans (1-0, PacWest Conference)-
The Vulcans, led by 10th-year head coach David Kaneshiro, have had two contests thus far, one a regular season game, one an exhibition, both against the NAIA-member Multnomah Lions of Oregon. Both games took place this past Friday and Saturday in Honolulu. In the regular season game, the Vulcans squeezed past the Lions 52-42 before losing 67-56 in the rematch exhibition.
Offense have leaned on Allie Navarette and Kim Schmelz. The two scored 12 and 11 points in their first game against Multnomah, respectively.
(RV) Hawai'i Pacific Sharks (4-0, PacWest Conference)-
The Sharks have started the season 4-0, along with being the second Coaches Top 25 under the direction of ninth-year head coach Reid Takatsuka. Before the season, HPU took on Hawai'i (Manoa), an exhibition for the Sharks, in a five-point, 76-71 victory for the Division I-member Rainbow Wahine.
Before the Oahu Classic, the Sharks got a duo of wins against Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) and Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash. Both games came down to the wire with a four-point and three-point victory, respectively. The Sharks then took a trip to the neighbors up-north to verse the Simon Fraser Clan in Canada in a seven-point victory.
The Sharks started Oahu Thanksgiving Classic action on Saturday with a convincing, 83-53 victory over Minnesota Crookston.
Offense has leaned heavily on Alysha Marcucci, who has averaged 20.5 points per game on 53.7 percent shooting (29-for-54), including a lethal 57.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc (15-for-26).
Chaminade Silverswords (0-3, PacWest Conference)-
The Silverswords, led by third-year head coach Arthur King, have had a rough go of things, going from the sunny oasis of Honolulu to the cold of Anchorage, Alaska. In their trip, the Silverswords took a pair of tough losses to No. 16 Alaska Anchorage (93-45) and Alaska Fairbanks (92-47).
Much like the Sharks, the Silverswords took to the court already for the Oahu Thanksgiving Classic. They also faced the Golden Eagles of Minnesota Crookston, but fell just short of a comeback bid in their 68-65 loss to UMC.
Kali Benavente and Destiny Castro have spearheaded the offense for the Silverswords, averaging 12 and 11 points, respectively. In the early goings, Castro has taken most of the shots for the Silverswords, going 10-for-32 and 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.
Sioux Falls Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC)-
Twelfth-year head coach Travis Traphagen has guided the Cougars to a hard-earned 4-0 start to the 2019-20 campaign.
The Cougars have progressively shown more improvement with each game, starting the USF Classic with a 77-62 win over a stout William Jewell team, followed by a 81-45 trouncing of Chadron State. USF ranks second in the NSIC in scoring at 83.8 points per game and is fourth in scoring margin (83.8 ppg to 63.0 for opponents). They also top-ranked in the NSIC in three-point field goal percentage at 42.7 percent (41-of-96) and free throw shooting at 84.6 percent (66-of-78). In addition, USF leads the NSIC in assist-turnover ration at 1.62 while sitting fourth in field goal shooting aty 45.6 percent and turnovers margin at 6.50 (11.3-to-17.8).
Against a team close in rankings, both national and regional, the Cougars earned a important 78-69 win over Emporia State on Nov. 19 at the Stewart Center. Kaely Hummel had 19 points and Mariah Szymanski, 13, to lead the way. The following day, the Cougars commenced conference-play with a home match against Southwest Minnesota State, which the Cougars made quick business of by the score of 100-77. Hummel scored 23 to lead USF which also had 22 points from Anna Goodhope and 16 from Mariah Szymanski. USF was 11-of-20 from three-point range in the home win which opened the NSIC season.
USF's high-octane offense has leaned on NSIC South Preseason Player of the Year, senior Kaely Hummel, who has averaged 18.3 points per game on 25-for-48 shooting (52.1 percent), 12-for-26 from beyond the arc. She has 73 points this season and moved into 11th place all-time with 1,261 points. In addition, she has two 20-point games this season and 18 in her career. Hummel, who had a career-best of 29 points in 2018 against Minnesota Crookston at home, has 204 made threes which placed her fourth all-time at USF. She is just four away from third and held by Chelsey Nelson at 208.
USF has also received strong production from junior forward Anna Goodhope, who has earned an NSIC Player of the Week honor. Goodhope is averaging 15.8 points for eighth in the league while also ranking seventh in the NSIC with 1.3 blocks per game.
USF is also received 10 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game (8th in the NSIC) from senior guard Mariah Szymanski. In her career, Szymanski has 122 three pointers, including hitting 7-of-13 this season, and 836 points.
Also for USF, Hannah Jones is sixth in the NSIC with 4.0 assists and is suppling 6.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Senior forward Jacey Huinker is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game which is ninth in the NSIC. She has a double double this season which included 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. She has reached double digits in two straight games and is supplying 8.0 points and 2.5 assists as she like Jones is filling up the stat sheet.
