BISMARCK, N.D.— On a historic night, the No. 14 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (16-2, 9-2 NSIC) used a 28-8 run in the second half to pick up a 80-62 win over U-Mary at the McDowell Activity Center.
USF senior guards Kaely Hummel and Mariah Szymanski reached milestones as USF earned a seventh straight win. Hummel, who scored 14 points, became the fourth player in school history to reach 1,500 points while Szymanski had 18 points to reach the 1,000 point milestone. Along with a season-high 21 points from Jessie Geer, the Cougars moved to 7-0 on home and at 9-2 lead the NSIC South by two games over Winona State and Wayne State at 7-4.
Making History-
It took only 11 seconds for the history-making night to take shape, as senior Kaely Hummel hit a jumper to record her 1,500th point in her career. This milestone puts Hummel in an elite group of players for the program, as she is only the fourth player to reach 1,500 points in purple and white. Hummel finished the night with 14 points, which was her 10th straight game of reaching double-digits in scoring.
From one bookend of the game to another, senior Mariah Szymanski went to the charity stripe with :59 on the clock, and hit both to put her at 18 points, exactly what she needed to reach the 1,000 career point for her. This is the first time in program history that a player had reached 1,500 career points and another hit 1,000 in the same night.
Graduate student Jacey Huinker also had a night to remember, tying her career-high in rebounds (Minnesota State, Dec. 7, 2019), collecting 16 boards. Huinker has accomplished double-digit rebounding in eight games this season, including seven of the last 10 contests. neared the double-double, recording eight points on the night.
Jessie Geer, the senior from Gillette, Wyoming, had a game-high 21 points on the night, a season-high. Friday's game is the fourth time in the past five games that Geer has scored in double-digits.
After USF opened up a 20-15 lead in the first quarter before U-Mary tied the game at 32 after a 17-12 second quarter advantage. In the third quarter, USF exploded with a 32-14 advantage and had control of the game at 64-46 after three quarters. Both teams scored 16 in the fourth quarter as USF earned the road win.
Key for USF was its shooting and defense. The Cougars hit 30-of-65 shots for 46.2 percent and made 11-of-18 field goals for 61 percent in the third quarter. In that total was an 11-of-24 mark from three-point range. USF forced 20 turnovers while committing just 10 to offset a 35-30 U-Mary rebound advantage. Also USF held U-Mary to 44.2 percent from the field and just 7-of-20 from three. For the fifth time this year, USF had double digits in made threes and shot over 46 percent from the field for sixth time.
Head Coach Travis Traphagen On Tonight-
"This was a nice win for us," Traphagen said. "I felt like we played really well and maybe as good as our Minnesota State win. U-Mary is a good team and made some runs at us. I thought we battled and came out in the third quarter with a lot of intensity. We defended them and made some big plays. I am really proud of Mariah (Syzmanski) and Kaely (Hummel) for reaching those significant milestones. Plus, Jacey (Huinker) dominated on the boards while Jessie Geer really good after it tonight. The key for us we played really tough. In the third quarter, we were attacking, sharing and rebounding. It was a really nice overall effort by the entire team."
Game Highlights-
First Quarter-
- With 4:55 left in the first quarter, Geer got a layup to go, putting the Cougars ahead 16-4 early in the contest.
- UMary finished the quarter on an 11-4 run, making it a 20-15 game heading into the second quarter.
Second Quarter-
- UMary got their first lead of the game with 1:12 left in the quarter, but traded points by the teams led to a 32-32 tie heading into the locker room.
Third Quarter-
-The first six baskets of the game all came off layups, with Szymanski tying the game 38-38 at the 7:06 mark.
-Szymanski's layup started a huge run for the Cougars, as USF went on a 28-8 run to finish the quarter, and take a 64-46 lead into the final 10 minutes of place.
Fourth Quarter-
-UMary started the quarter on a 9-2 run to make it an 11-point, 66-55 Cougar lead.
-After UMary's run, the Cougars got their lead back up to 18 points three times, including Geer's jumper at the end.
What's Next-
USF will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Minot, N.D., to face Minot State, who has yet to collect a win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. Minot State faced Southwest Minnesota State on Friday, where the Mustangs beat the Beavers by 24 points.
