SIOUX FALLS— The No. 14 University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball team, under the direction of 12th-year head coach Travis Traphagen, will look to break their tie with Minnesota State for the top spot in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) South, then bolster their resume against Concordia-St. Paul when both teams come to the Stewart Center on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Cougars are currently tied for first in the NSIC South, sitting at 6-2 in conference play along with Minnesota State. One of the Mavericks' two conference losses came to the Cougars at the Taylor Center back on Dec. 7. In NSIC South action, the Cougars are a perfect 6-0, whereas both conference losses for the Mavericks came to NSIC South teams (Concordia-St. Paul being the other).
The Rundown (2019-20 Record)-
Fri., Jan. 10, 5:30 p.m. vs Minnesota State Mavericks (9-3, 6-2 NSIC)
Sat., Jan. 11, 3:30 p.m. vs Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (8-6, 5-3 NSIC)
Minnesota State Mavericks (9-3, 6-2 NSIC)-
Eighth-year head coach Emilee Thiesse has led the Mavericks to a 9-3 overall record, and 6-2 in NSIC action, with all three of their losses coming to a combined 13 points. Their first loss of the season came in their second game, where the Mavericks lost 80-75 to Michigan Tech in Mankato. In conference, Minnesota State has fallen 66-61 to the Cougars and 82-79 to Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul.
Friday's game will be only the fifth away from the Taylor Center for the Mavericks. In their previous four road games, Minnesota State has gone 3-1, including a non-conference win over Wisconsin-Parkside, as well as NSIC wins over Winona State and a come-from-behind win over Upper Iowa. Against UIU, the Mavericks went on an 18-0 run in the fourth quarter to best the Peacocks 78-71. In their most recent game, the Mavericks got a quality 70-59 win over UMary, a team that looks to threaten for a top spot in the NSIC North.
On the court, the Mavericks look to a duo of scorers in senior Kirstin Klitzke and junior Tayla Stuttley. Overall, Klitzke has paced the Maverick offense with her 11.5 points per game average. Since playing the Cougars, Klitzke has averaged 12.8 points per game.
Stuttley has averaged 10.2 points per game in 10 games (six starts), but has seen a slight decrease in her average since the Dec. 7 matchup against the Cougars, having scored 38 points in four games (9.5 points per game). Stuttley also leads the team in assists with 29.
Concordia-St. Paul (8-6, 5-3 NSIC)-
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Amanda Johnson, the Golden Bears have put up a respectable 8-6 overall record, and a 5-3 record in NSIC action. In each of their last four losses, CSP has fallen by five points or less, including their 62-57 loss to the Cougars on Dec. 6 at the Gangelhoff Center. Away from the Gangelhoff Center (seven games), the Golden Bears have went 3-4, with losses to Fort Hays State (neutral site), Northern Michigan, Upper Iowa, and Minnesota State. CSP has gotten a quality win on the road, downing a tough Winona State team 89-82 at McCown Gymnasium.
The Golden Bears have leaned heavily on the versatility of junior and reigning NSIC Player of the Week Sidney Wentland, who leads the team in scoring average (15.4 points per game), rebounds (72), rebounds per game (5.1), blocks (23), third in assists (44), and fourth in steals (15).
Sioux Falls Cougars (13-2, 6-2 NSIC)-
Under Coach Traphagen, the Cougars have had much success, including the program's first 9-0 start to a season in the Traphagen era. In that stretch of nine games, the Cougars have had tournament-level resume wins, including beating the No. 16 Emporia State Lady Hornets (10-2) 77-68 at the Stewart Center, as well as knocking off the No. 11 Hawai'i Pacific Sharks (11-1) 79-77 in "The Shark Tank" during the Malika Sports Tour Oahu Thanksgiving Classic.
In addition to beating the Hornets and Sharks, the Cougars have amassed quality wins over Minnesota State and Wayne State, both of which have received votes in the D2SIDA Central Region poll.
Thramer leads USF past Augustana
Senior and native of South Sioux City, Neb., Augusta Thramer had a weekend to remember against Wayne State and Augustana, having recorded 28 points in between the two games. Thramer, who set a career-high in points (20) against Minnesota State on Dec. 7, tied that mark against Augustana last Saturday.
In her performance against the Vikings, Thramer scored 11 points in the second half, spearheading the Cougars' 72.2 shooting percentage (13-for-18) in the final 12 minutes of the Cougars' 76-72 fourth quarter comeback over Augustana.
On the weekend, Thramer shot 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from the field, which included a three-pointer, as well as going 11-for-14 from the charity stripe (.786 percentage). Along with the offensive outburst, Thramer recorded seven steals, six rebounds, and four assists. The performance garnered Thramer a top performer of the NSIC South honors, being bested by CSP's Wentland who averaged 27.5 points on the weekend.
Overall, Thramer has averaged 6.7 points per game off the bench, while also leading the team, alongside senior Mariah Szymanski, in assists (22).
Hummel moving closer to 1,500 points
The Cougars have had a strong showing from the Cheroke, Iowa, native and senior Kaely Hummel, who has paced the Cougar offense with her 17.7 points per game. Hummel had a season-high 29 points against Truman State, and is nearing 1,500 career points with 1,453 in her 107 career games. With 23 points she can move in fourth place on USF's career chart (Shelly Fauth, 1,475, 1982-86). Hummel only need nine more steals to reach the 100-steals mark in her career.
Hummel has seven games over 20 points (21, 23, 23, 27, 29, 20, 22) this season and 23 in her career. This has translated well for Hummel in the 78 games in which she has scored in double-digits. In addition, she now has 233 career threes which is third all-time at USF. She only trails Taylor Varsho (2014-16) with 245 and all-time leader Laura Johnson (2010-14) with 259. She has a season-high of 29 points (Truman State, 12-18-19), which matched her career-high (Minnesota Crookston, 1-23-18). She tied a career-high against Hawai'i Pacific when she made six threes.
Szymanski Soaring to Milestone
Senior guard Mariah Szymanski is averaging 11.6 points, 3.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds. Szymanski, who has 10 20-point games and four games of 30 or more (career-best 43 vs. Concordia St. Paul in 2017-18), has 12 games (46 in her career) with double- digit points in 2019-20. In 106 games and 64 starts, Szymanski has totaled 973 points and with 27 points will become the 20th player in school history to reach 1,000 points. She will join Hummel as active 1K scorers. Plus, Szymanski has 147 career three-pointers for eighth on USF's all-time chart.
Huinker and Goodhope starring in front court for Cougars
Senior Jacey Huinker, who was named NSIC WBB Athlete of the Week on Dec. 9, 2019, has six double-doubles in her career and three in 2019-20. Huinker has collected 129 rebounds, which includes six of her 24 career double-digit rebounding games. In her career the 5-9 forward has 650 rebounds which ranks second in USF's D2 era. She has 10 or more boards in five of the past seven games. Huinker is adding 5.9 ppg., and shooting 54.7 percent from the floor. Redshirt junior Anna Goodhope has averaged 11.4 ppg this season. She has 21 career double-digit scoring games with a career-high of 30 points against Winona State on 2-15-2019. Goodhope has totaled 450 points at USF with 555 in her career when including the 105 she scored in 2016-17 while with D1 North Dakota State.
Moving On Up
After earning a weekend sweep this weekend, as well as beating Truman State and Southwest Minnesota State before the turn of the decade, the WBCA award the Cougars' four-game winning streak by moving USF from 18th to 14th place in Tuesday's poll.
The Cougars are the only ranked Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) institution currently in the WBCA Top 25, with 270 votes. The only other NSIC institution appearing in the release was Minnesota Duluth, who are receiving 20 votes.
Along with the WBCA poll, the D2SIDA national poll also released on Tuesday, with the Cougars moving from the receiving votes section of the poll to 13th in the nation, earning 173 votes in Tuesday's poll.
In the D2SIDA Regional Poll, the Cougars earned their spot on top of the region for the second time this season, receiving 54 of the possible 60 votes.
The History
Against the Mavericks, USF has been dominant in the series, taking the last three matchups, and nine of the last 10. The Cougars and Golden Bears have not been able to get any streak going, since the 2016-17 season, having traded each of the last five matches.
