SIOUX FALLS -- Senior guard Kaely Hummel scored 24 points and the No.11 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (18-2, 11-2 NSIC) cruised to an 86-43 win against Upper Iowa Friday (Jan. 24) at the Stewart Center.

The Cougars outscored Upper Iowa 49-16 in the second half as they recorded their ninth straight win and the lead at the top of the NSIC South. They improved to 15-1 against Upper Iowa under 12th-year head coach Travis Traphagen, including all eight at the Stewart Center in this stretch.

Jessie Geer added 13 points for USF while Anna Goodhope had 10, and Augusta Thramer finished with nine points.

Hummel was 6-of-15 from the field and was perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 9-for-9. The senior sharpshooter made three treys and now sits just 10 triples behind Laura Johnson (259) for the school's career three-point record.

Natalie Dinius scored 13 points to lead Upper Iowa (3-16, 2-11 NSIC). Caralina Apostolou added 11 for the Peacocks. USF grabbed eight offensive rebounds and held a 43-30 edge in total rebounds. The second-best free throw shooting team in the NSIC, the Cougars hit a combined 17-for-18 from the line.     

The Cougars and the Peacocks have been the ying and yang of the NSIC in terms of taking care of the basketball, with USF leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41) and Upper Iowa last among all teams (0.62). That trend continued tonight, with USF recording fifteen assists to just eight turnovers while scoring 20 points off 16 Peacock miscues.

The Peacocks opened the game scoring the first five points, but the Cougars tied it with a Hummel three-pointer and a bucket from Goodhope and they finished with a 20-12 run for a 25-17 lead after the first quarter. Both teams struggled to score  but USF had a 12-10 advantage and led, 37-27, at halftime.

The Cougars regrouped at the break and took it to another level, making quicker decisions along with some defensive adjustments on handling ball screens better.

After Upper Iowa closed to within eight at 37-29 at the start of the third, USF sped up the game and outscored the Peacocks 23-4 in the quarter to put the game away. USF had a  60-31 lead at the third quarter break.

The Cougars picked up in the fourth quarter where they left off in the third quarter. Geer's jumper from the paint with 9:44 left doubled up the Peacocks 62-31. USF outscored Upper Iowa 24-12 the rest of the way and Jade Blackburn capped scoring on a lay-up with less than a minute to play.

Up next, the Cougars host Winona State in a pivotal matchup between the NSIC South's top two squads. USF and WSU clash tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
 
KEY STAT
The Cougars shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the field in the third quarter and went 5-for-5 from the free throw line to open the second half. They outscored the Peacocks 23-4 in the period.