SIOUX FALLS— The No. 18 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball started 2020 with a road match with Wayne State, a game that proved a battle, as is any Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) contest. That said, the Cougars were able to take a 78-70 victory out of Rice Auditorium on Friday evening.

The Numbers-
Leading the way in scoring 22 points, including 14 in the second half, was senior Kaely Hummel. In her second half push, Hummel took to the floor with four baskets, which encompassed three threes, as well as three free throws. Hummel now has 77 double-digit scoring games in her career with 12 in 14 games in 2019-20.  With her 22 tonight, she has seven games this season over 20 points and 23 in her career.  Hummel has six games over 20 points (21, 23, 23, 27, 29, 20) this season and 22 in her career. In addition, she hit a trio of treys and has 233 in her career, which is third all-time at USF and 12 from second place held by Taylor Varsho (2014-16) with 245.

Redshirt junior Anna Goodhope also had a phenomenal night, scoring 18 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor, and a career-high mark at the charity stripe, going 7-for-10. Goodhope recorded her 21st career double digit scoring game.

Leading the first half offense, senior Jessie Geer totaled 11 points with several early clutch baskets. She has three double-digit scoring games this season and 15 in her career. Jacey Huinker reached double digits in rebounds for a 24th time in her career with 10. Also contributing offensively was Augusta Thramer and Krystal Carlson, who each supplied eight points. WSC was led by Erin Nordling with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

As a team, Sioux Falls was outshot by nearly 10 percent (38.2 percent, compared to Wayne State's 46 percent). While USF was outrebounded, 45-19, they forced 28 turnovers and committed just seven for a margin of 21 and a 38-8 points off turnovers advantage.

USF led 21-15 after one quarter and upped the lead to 41-30 by halftime. WSC cut the margin to eight after three quarters with a 20-17 edge but with both teams scoring 20 points in the final quarter, USF was able to take away an eight-point win as they defeated the Wildcats for a third straight time.

The Game-
After the Wildcats' Brittany Bongartz tied the game 6-6 with a lay-up at the 5:44 mark of the first quarter, the Cougars heated up on offense. USF went on a 9-0 run that spanned just under two minutes, and the Cougars never looked back.

Wayne State got to within four points on three occasions early in the second quarter, but the Cougars were able to get their lead back to double-digits, with Geer banking a fast-break layup to put the Cougars ahead 33-22. Though the Wildcats chipped into the Cougars' 11-point lead, that lead would stand head into intermission, with USF owning a 41-30 lead.

With 14 seconds passed in the third quarter, sophomore Krystal Carlson hit a shot in the paint, which provided the Cougars their largest lead of the night at 13. The Wildcat's Halley Busse would answer and cut USF's lead to four at 51-47. Sioux Falls responded with a 7-0 run to get ahead by 11 once again with 26 seconds left in the third quarter, but  Norling of Wayne State hit a last-second three to make it a 58-50 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

The Cougars were stymied in the first three minutes, getting outscored by the Wildcats 7-1, making it a two-point, 59-57 lead for the Cougars.However, Hummel came up with a big three as the Cougars took a 62-57 lead. Later in the quarter, Mariah Szymanski hit a trey to put the Cougars ahead by 10. With 2:47 left in regulation, Goodhope got a lay-up to go, putting the Cougars ahead by 10 once again and the Cougars held off a charge from WSC late.

What's Next-
The Cougars are back to Sioux Falls and the court on Saturday, facing hometown rival Augustana at the Pentagon at 3:30 p.m. As the Cougars facing city rival Augustana, the two teams have each won eight games in the series in the DII era. USF take a three-game winning streak into the matchup while the Vikings took a 60-55 loss to SMSU on Friday at the Pentagon.