HONOLULU, Hawai'i— The No. 19 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball took to the court for the final time in the Malika Sports Tour Oahu Thanksgiving Classic on Thursday. What ensued was a one-sided, 75-41 victory for USF over the Chaminade Silverswords (0-4). The win concluded a 3-0 trip for the Cougars, as well as putting them at a perfect 7-0 on the young season.
The Numbers-
In a game that saw all 18 Cougars take the court, senior Kaely Hummel led the way in scoring, going 6-for-14 (3-for-9 from three), as well as a free throw for a total of 16 points. Senior Mariah Szymanski, who scored the game-winner a day ago against Hawai'i Pacific, concluded the day with 12. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Cougars was redshirt junior Anna Goodhope, who tallied 10.
In total, 12 Cougars got into the point column. The Cougars shot at a 40.6 percent, as well as improving from last night's charity stripe issues, going 11-for-13 from the line.
One of the defining margins between the Cougars and the Silverswords was points from turnovers, with the Cougars scoring 24 points compared to the Silverswords' one point.
Defense showed their prowess by holding Chaminade to 31.3 percent shooting, which includes an abysmal 18.2 shooting percentage (2-for-11 FG, 0-for-2 3PT) and missing all four free throws in the first quarter.
Game Notes-
The Cougars got off to a great start with an 8-0 run, all while keeping Chaminade scoreless for the first 5:47 of the game, where a layup finally ended the drought for the Silverswords. The low-scoring first quarter finished with a 14-4 Cougar lead.
At the 4:04 mark of the second quarter, senior Jessie Geer hit a pair of free throws to put the Cougars ahead 24-8, but was met with the only three pointer of the game for Chaminade. With just under a minute left of the half, Hummel hit a three-point to give the Cougars their first 20-point lead of the game. Chaminade tried making up some ground with a layup with 16 seconds to go, but Geer drained a trey to make it a 21-point, 37-16 Cougar lead after 20 minutes of play.
Geer made another pair of free throws with 4:29 left in the third quarter to put the Cougars up by 31 points (50-19). After trading points with each other, redshirt sophomore hit a three-pointer with :53 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Cougars their largest lead to that point, a 34-point, 61-27 lead. Chaminade got the final points of the game from a basket to make it a 61-29 score heading into the fourth quarter.
Chaminade started off the fourth quarter with some power, scoring the first six points of the quarter to conclude an 8-0 run. The Cougars deflated any momentum Chaminade had from their 8-0 run by going on their own 8-0 run to bring the lead back to 34 points with 3:58 left in the contest. With a made layup, freshman Ashley Wells gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game (36) before the Silverswords made the final basket of the game in the closing seconds of the Cougars' 75-41 victory.
What's Next-
The Cougars are off until Dec. 6 and 7 where they will play Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State on the road for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games.
