SIOUX FALLS. - The University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (21-7), which ended the regular season with a league-high eight-game winning streak, has earned the No. 2 seed in the South Division and will host the North No. 7 seed Minnesota Crookston (10-18) in the opening round of the NSIC Sanford Health Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m., at the Stewart Center.

MSU Moorhead earned its third straight overall NSIC Title and fourth straight NSIC North Division Championship as they finished the regular season at 19-3. Concordia-St. Paul earned the South Division title with its 17-5 record. USF finished 16-6 in league play and one game behind CSP to earn the No. 2 seed. Tickets will be $12 for adults and $3 for students. USF fans can purchase tickets at www.usfcougars.com/tickets. The USF-UMC game is part of a men's and women's NSIC Tourney doubleheader at the SC.

The first round of the tournament is set for Wednesday, February 27 played on the campus of the top four seeds in each division.  The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will take place on March 2, 4-5 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.  All rounds of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament played at the Sanford Pentagon will to aired live on MidcoSN and streamed for free via Stretch Internet. The matchups of the tournament are listed below.

Wed., Feb. 27 - First Round			Time^
(S8) Upper Iowa	at	(N1) MSU Moorhead	5:30 pm
(N5) Minot State	at	(S4) Winona State	6:00 pm
(N7) Minnesota Crookston	at	(S2) Sioux Falls	5:30 pm
(S6) Wayne State	at	(N3) U Mary	6:00 pm
(N8) Bemidji State	at	(S1) Concordia-St. Paul	6:00 pm
(S5) Minnesota State	at	(N4) St. Cloud State	5:30 pm
(S7) Southwest Minnesota State	at	(N2) Minnesota Duluth	5:30 pm
(N6) Northern State	at	(S3) Augustana	5:30 pm

 
USF leads UMC, 6-2
With a shutdown defensive effort matched by an efficient and effective offense, the USF rolled to an 80-47 win over UMC on Feb. 22. Junior Kaely Hummel had 17 points, three assists and two steals to lead USF. In total, USF had four players in double-digits against UMC, including junior Jessie Geer with 15 points, five rebounds, five steals and an assist. Both Mariah Szymanski and Lauren Sanders provided 11 points. USF took control of this game early by rushing to a 14-0 lead and taking a 24-14 lead after the first quarter. In the second stanza, USF outscored UMC, 19-6, for a commanding 43-20 lead at the halftime break. USF put the game away with a 25-11 advantage in the third quarter for a 68-31 lead. After dropping two of the first three matchups with NSIC north division foe Minnesota Crookston, Sioux Falls has won five straight over the Golden Eagles and have a 6-2 overall edge in the all-time series.  USF is 5-2 mark against UMC in NSIC regular season games with a victory over the Golden Eagles in the NSIC Tournament quarterfinals in 2016. On Jan. 13, 2018, USF had a career-high 29 points from Kaely Hummel in a 74-57 win. USF led 42-22 at halftime and 60-44 through three quarters. USF dropped the first matchup, 76-59, at Minnesota Crookston on Feb. 1, 2013. A year later, USF won at home, 84-74. Following a loss in 2015, the Cougars reeled off two straight, including two in 2016 with the second a 75-62 victory en route to USF's NSIC Tournament championship. 
 
NSIC Tournament Sanford Health history: USF has advanced to three straight semis
USF is 11-5 and has advanced to the semifinal round in the NSIC Sanford Health tourney in three straight years. In 2017-18, USF defeated U-Mary, 60-50, at the Stewart Center in the first round as Mariah Szymanski and Kaely Hummel both scored 20 points. After trailing 28-20 at the halftime break, the Cougars had a 40-22 margin in the final two quarters to earn the first-round win. In the tournament quarterfinals, the Cougars defeated North No. 2 MSU Moorhead, 59-56, as Szymanski scored 26 points and Augusta Thramer scored a career-high 17. Szymanski led USF from a 12-point deficit and scored the go-ahead basket with 8.6 seconds to play and then made a pair of free throws for the final margin. In the win, USF upset MSUM for a second straight year. USF, which was seeded No. 3, fell to South No. 1 seed Augustana, 63-43 in the semifinals. USF is 4-0 in NSIC Tournament quarterfinals and 2-2 in semifinals. Since the NSIC moved the championship sight to the Sanford Pentagon in 2014, USF has played in 10 games at the Sioux Falls facility and are 7-3 in those games. In the last three years at the Pentagon, USF is 6-2, losing only in the NSIC Tournament title game to Northern State, 55-52 in 2016-17 and Augustana a year ago in the semifinals. The Cougars dropped a 78-66 decision to eventual Central Region champion Concordia-St. Paul in 2014, then returned to the NSIC semis two years later. En route to their NSIC Tournament title, USF defeated Northern State, 71-63, in the 2016 semifinals. Last season, USF's defense stymied Wayne State in a 58-49 victory for their second consecutive title game appearance. In the 2016 NSIC Championship, USF defeated rival Augustana, 75-57, to earn NCAA DII national tourney berth, the first in school history.  In that history-making victory, Taylor Varsho, who was the tourney MVP, had 23 points with seven assists and eight rebounds. Alison Klostergaard added 18 points and Teagan Molden provided 12 points. USF trailed, 29-26 after two quarters but outscored their city rivals, 29-8, in the third quarter to build a big league and cruised to the title.
 
Cougars finish second in NSIC South
With the eight-game winning streak, the Cougars finished second in the NSIC South at 16-6. USF, which was picked to win the NSIC in the preseason for the first time, have overcome season-ending injuries to starters Jacey Huinker and Hannah Jones to earn the No. 2 seed in the South as NSIC Sanford Health postseason play opens Wednesday. For the fourth straight season, USF, which has won 21 games or more for the third time in the past four years, has clinched a home playoff game tournament.  
 
USF sweeps Augustana and Wayne State
Last weekend (Feb. 22-23), the Cougars swept Augustana, 76-62, and Wayne State, 77-72, in road games. For the first time in the DII era, USF swept city rival Augustana in a season series. USF took a 65-60 win over AU at the Stewart Center on Jan. 5, 2019. On Feb. 22 at the Elmen Center, Kaely Hummel scored a season-high 28 points to help USF defeat the Vikings. Mariah Szymanski had a double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while Jessie Geer also had 11 points as USF now has a 9-8 mark against AU in the last 17 meetings. In the road win over Wayne State, Hummel had 20 points, five assists and four rebounds to lead USF to their first-ever victory at Rice Auditorium.
 
USF has tied a program DII-high with eight straight wins
USF, which has 10 wins in 11 games, has a league-best and program DII tying eight-game winning streak and finished the regular season home schedule with an 11-2 mark. With wins over Augie and Wayne State, they have won eight straight for the first time in more than three years (1-16-16-to 2-12-16).  USF ranks third in the NSIC in scoring at 72.0 points per game and stand fourth in scoring defense at 59.1 points per game. The Cougars, which have held seven opponents under 50 points, rank second in the league with a 5.96 turnover margin and third in assist turnover ratio at 1.2. USF is first in the NSIC in scoring margin at 12.9 ppg and third in field goal percentage at 42.8 percent.
 
USF has reached 20 wins for 6^th time
In USF's Women's Basketball history, the program has recorded six 20-win seasons. Five of those seasons have happened with all-time wins leader and current head coach Travis Traphagen. The 21 wins in 2018-19 ranks sixth on the list. Here is how the teams rank in order of wins – 27-6, 2010-11; 27-6, 2015-16; 23-10, 2002-03; 23-3, 2011-12, 22-8, 2016-17; 21-7, 2018-19. The first 20-win season was in the 2002-03 season when the Cougars reached the NAIA Final Four with head coach Katie Dailey. The other five 20-win seasons came with Traphagen, including a 27-6 mark in which USF won their first-ever NSIC Tournament title and reached the NCAA DII playoffs for the first time.
 
Hummel ranks sixth in NSIC in scoring
Kaely Hummel averaged 24.0 points (28, 20), 4.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds in the road wins over Augustana and Wayne State and now stands sixth in the NSIC in scoring at 15.8 per game.  She hit 14-of-29 field goals for 48.3 percent and seven of 20 three point field goals while knocking down all 13 of her free throws as USF extended its league-leading eighth straight win.  Hummel had her 62^nd career double-digit scoring game and for the 14th time in her career surpassed 20 points in the win over Wayne STate. She hit 6-of-13 field goals with four-of-11 from three point range.  Against WSC, she also had four rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes. She also had 28 points against Augustana and just missed her career high of 29 points, which she set against Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 13, 2018. Fourteen times this season she has hit three or more threes in a game and has five on three occasions including the win over Upper Iowa on Feb. 16.
 
Hummel has 38 career games with at least three made treys and seen with five or more triples. She set a career high with six treys against Augustana on Dec. 31, 2016. In USF's DII era, Hummel ranks second with 189 made three-pointers and third in points with 1,144 points. On USF's all-time scoring chart Hummel is 16^th with 1,144 points and her 189 threes sits fourth all-time at USF. Ahead of Hummel on USF's career scoring chart is Sherri Hawes with 1,173 points at No. 15 and Lindsey Schneiderman with 1,198 points at No. 14.  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 which is second all-time at USF. Sam Knecht had 1,316 points from 2013-17, which is second at USF in the DII era. USF's career points leader is USF Hall of Famer Courtney Farrell with 2,433 points from 2002-05. In addition, Hummel ranks tied for 9^th in made threes in a season with 68 (Taylor Varsho, 2014-15, 68). Hummel has 441 points this season and is just 21 away from her 462 a year ago. With 86 starts she is third in the DII era with 87 games played eighth. Hummel has the second (462, 2017-18) and third (441, 2018-19) best scoring seasons in the DII era at USF. Taylor Varsho had 585 points in the 2015-16 season for the top mark season mark for points. In USF's all-time season chart, Hummel is 16^th with 441 points. The 462 points a year ago by Hummel ranks 12^th.
 
Szymanski sets career high with 10 assists against Winona State
Junior Mariah Szymanski continues to piece together another solid season. After transitioning to the point gaud midway through the year, she now is averaging 9.4 points, 2.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds. In the win over Augustana on Feb. 22, Szymanski had her first career double double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. While she scored just two points Szymanski dished a career high 10 assists and had eight rebounds against Winona State. Three weeks ago, she averaged 23.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists in leading USF to wins over NSU and MSUM. Syzmanski scored a season-high 33 points, which was the sixth-best in league play this season, in the 73-66 road win over NSU. Szymanski, who scored the second most points in her career (43, Concordia St. Paul, Jan. 20, 2018), hit 11-of-16 field goals and a season-high five triples on seven attempts. She also had six free throws, three steals and three rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor. She now has registered three games of 30 points or more in her career and has nine 20-point games with 31 games in double-digits points in her career. Szymanski, who is averaging 10.2 points per game in league play, has 742 career points.  This season she has double-digit point total in 14 games, twice going over 20.   
 
Goodhope has seven double digit scoring games
Anna Goodhope who has scored 232 points with 157 rebounds this season, is averaging 8.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She has seven double digit scoring games and five double digit rebound games. She has had 12 rebounds in a game twice including at Concordia St. Paul on Dec. 7, 2018 and at Wayne State on Feb. 23, 2019. She has had double doubles against Concordia St. Paul on Jan. 12, 2019 with 11 points and 11 rebounds and against Upper Iowa on Feb. 16, 2019 with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Twice this season she has had 20 or more points. She scored 28, including a career-best seven made threes on 13 attempts, in a win at Minnesota State on Jan. 11, 2019. She set a career high, including making five threes on 12 attempts, in a 70-68 home win over Winona State on Feb. 15, 2019. Goodhope has two or more threes in a game six times and a made triple in 22 games with 38 on the season.
 
Geer leads USF in steals and has 11 double-digit scoring games
Junior guard Jessie Geer is scoring 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 steals (tied for sixth in the NSIC) per game. Geer scored a career-high 26 points against Wayne State on Jan. 4 at the Stewart Center. Geer, who has a team-best 47 steals, has had five steals in a game three times and had a career-best eight assists and eight rebounds in the home win over Augustana.  Eleven times she has reached double-digits in points.
 
Carlson has four games in double-digits for USF
In her freshman campaign, Krystal Carlson has made 15 starts in 28 games is averaging 4.5 points and 2.6 rebounds. She is hit 48.7 percent from the floor and has 10 blocks, 13 steals and 127 points along with 74 rebounds. Carlson, who had a career-best 20 points against SMSU on Dec. 1, 2018 (9-of-15 from the floor), has four career games in double-digit points.