SIOUX FALLS -- The University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball Team (2-0, 2-0 NSIC), which opened the season with two road wins, will host its home opening weekend by hosting Winona State (0-1, 0-0) on Jan. 16-17 at the Stewart Center. The Cougars will host Winona State at 6 pm on Saturday, Jan. 16 and 2 pm on Sunday, Jan. 17. The games were moved from Jan. 15-16 to Jan. 16-17 due to weather conditions.

Follow USF - Broadcast and Stat info
Follow USF Women's Basketball on twitter at @USFCougars_WBB and @USF_Athletics. All USF's home and road games and NSIC contests are streamed for free through Blue Frame at the NSIC Network. Veteran announcer Tom Frederick will provide play-by-play for home games with veteran broadcaster John Gaskins doing road contests. All women's games will be carried on KELQ 107.9 FM. Live stats for home games are available at www.sidearmstats.com/wbball.  

Ticket Info
A limited number of USF fans (less than 20 percent of capacity of the Stewart Center) will receive tickets and be allowed to attend if they follow facility/university protocols. No season tickets will be sold. For ticket information, click here.

Breaking down USF/WSU matchup - Cougars rank eighth in nation in scoring

Perennial NSIC championship contenders USF and Winona State will meet for the 28th time on Jan. 15-16 with the Warriors holding a 10-7 edge.  The Cougars opened the season on the road with two wins over Upper Iowa. With 20 points from Anna Brecht and freshman Megan Fannin in their first game in USF uniforms, the Cougars defeated Upper Iowa, 86-66. In game two, the Cougars rallied from an early deficit to record an 86-78 game two win over the Peacocks as Brecht had 19 points.

Winona State has played just one game in a season impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.  WSU fell to defending NSIC champion Minnesota Duluth, 68-47, at McCown Gym in Winona, Minn. Allie Pickrain had 11 points and Taylor Hustad, 10 to lead the Warriors in their home opener.

 For the first time in USF's DII era, the Cougars, which is tied for first in the NSIC South at 2-0, scored 86 points in consecutive road wins. As a result, USF leads the league and ranks eighth in NCAA DII in scoring at 86.0 ppg. USF, which ranks third in scoring margin at 14.0 ppg, ranks second in the NSIC and third in NCAA DII in three-point field goal percentage at 45.7 percent. USF is first in made three-pointers per game at 10.5 per game (21 total), a total which is eighth in DII. USF is also third in field goal shooting at 46.6 percent and third in rebounding at 43.5 per game.
 
Players Notes - Anna Brecht leading USF in scoring
Brecht, a transfer from Wisconsin/Green Bay and former Sioux Falls, S.D., native, opened her career by averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. Brecht set a career-high with 20 points in the opener. She also hit 3-of-8 from three-point range.

Freshman Megan Fannin broke out with a big game in the opener. She had 20 points in 26 minutes, adding four rebounds, four assists and a steal. Fannin, originally of Watertown, S.D., hit 7-of-10 field goals and 4-of-5 from three-point range. She is averaging 10.0 points and 3.5 rebounds through two games.
 
Junior guard Dallie Hoskinson, a transfer from Johnson City Community College, had both a double digit rebound and double digit point game for the first time at USF. Through her first two career starts with USF, she is averaging 11.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists. In the opener, the 5-6 guard had eight points, 15 rebounds, six assists and a steal in 37 minutes. Then, she hit 5-of-11 field goals, including her first three-pointer, for 14 points with a rebound and two assists.
 
Senior Anna Goodhope has come off the bench to provide USF with an offensive spark. On Sunday, she scored 13 points while hitting 4-of-6 field goals (both three point attempts) and grabbing four rebounds. She is averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds while hitting 54.5 percent from the floor, including all three triples. In the game Sunday, Goodhope connected on her 100th career-triple with 80 at USF. She made 20 at DI NDSU before transferring to USF.  In 63 games, Goodhope has 617 points (722 for her career) at USF. 

Senior guard Lauren Sanders is also closing in on 100 career 3s at USF. With five this weekend, the sharpshooter has 96 in her career.  She now has 374 career points. 

In her first start at USF, senior Amanda Dagostino came up big for USF.  She was 4-of-4 from the floor on Sunday with a career-best eight points, five rebounds and career-highs in blocks with three and assists with three. 

Sophomore Ashley Wells also had a career-best with 14 points in the win over UIU Sunday. Wells, who is averaging 8.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 16 minutes, made 4-of-5 field goals and 2-of-2 from three-point range for 14 points Sunday.

Newcomer Emily Peterson, who is averaging 5.5 points, also had a double-digit points game for USF for the first time. In the win on Saturday, she hit her first two threes with USF and had 10 points in 14 minutes.

Cougars picked fourth in NSIC South 
The Cougars have been picked to finish fourth in the 2020-21 league coaches preseason poll released on Wednesday, Dec. 15. USF, which lost seven seniors but returns experience and several talented newcomers, will look to win a second straight NSIC South Division title. USF, which has earned votes in the D2SIDA Preseason National Poll and ranked fifth in its Central Region Poll, received 27 ballot points but one of the seven first place ballots. Minnesota State received 43 points and three first place votes while Augustana and Winona State each had 35 ballot points and two first place votes. Minnesota Duluth was picked to win the North Division title after earning 49 ballot points and seven first place votes. 
 
Notes on WSU - Ballard leads WSU
Directed by veteran Head Coach Scott Ballard, WSU has played just once - 68-47 loss to UMD. WSU was trailed 39-24 at halftime and was outscored 29-23 in the second half by UMD. The Warriors hit just 16-of-63 field goals for 25.4 percent and 4-of-20 from three for 20 percent with 11-of-12 free throws. They lost the rebound battle, 41-37. 

A year ago, WSU was seventh in the NSIC with a 17-11 record, 12-10 in league play for third in the NSIC South. WSU returned all five starters from a year ago but had a rough shooting night in the opener. 

Ballard, a 1979 graduate of Southwest Missouri State, is in his 17th season at WSU where he has a 281-189 record (550-321 in his career). He has led WSU to the NCAA Tourney three times while directing WSU to 13 season of .500 or better NSIC marks. He also coached at Central Missouri State (167-90) for nine season and five seasons at Missouri Southern State (102-42) before joining WSU in 2004.
 
All-time Series - WSU leads USF, 10-7
USF defeated Winona State, 71-59, in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals on March 1, 2020. Led by the seventh career double-double (10 points and 14 rebounds) by senior Jacey Huinker and the shooting artistry of Anna Goodhope, who had a season-high 23 points, With the victory, USF picked up their sixth straight tourney quarterfinals victory.  USF had lost two straight to Winona State and trails the all-time series, 10-7.  USF is 6-2 at home and 0-8.

In the first ever matchup on Jan. 5, 2013, WSU took a 47-44 win. The Cougars won the second matchup, 53-49 on Jan. 25, 2013 at the Stewart Center.
USF has the largest win in the series, 82-65, on Dec. 6, 2014. The Cougars last regular season win over the Warriors was a 70-68 decision on Feb. 15, 2019 when Goodhope scored 30 points as rallying for the win. Eight times in the series, the games have been decided by four points or less and four times the difference has been two points with the Cougars 3-1 in those two-point or less decisions. 

Game-by-Game - Series Record
Mar. 1, 2020 @ Sanford Pentagon, NSIC Tourney, USF 71 Winona State 59
Feb. 14, 2020 @ Winona. WSU 73 USF 59
Jan. 25, 2020 @ Sioux Falls. WSU 78 USF 76
Feb. 15, 2019 @ Sioux Falls. USF 70 WSU 68
Jan. 26, 2019 @ Winona. WSU 64 USF 50
Jan. 6, 2018 @ Winona. WSU 59 USF 51
Dec. 1, 2017 @ Sioux Falls. USF 61 WSU 60
Jan. 7, 2017 @ Sioux Falls.  USF 52 WSU 51
Dec. 2, 2016 @ Winona. WSU 70 USF 60
Jan. 8, 2016 @ Sioux Falls. WSU 60 USF 59
Dec. 5, 2015 @ Winona. WSU 91 USF 52
Jan. 9, 2015 @ Winona. WSU 69 USF 52
Dec. 6, 2014 @ Sioux Falls. USF 82 WSU 65
Jan. 18, 2014 @ Sioux Falls. USF 63 WSU 53
Dec. 13, 2013 @ Winona. WSU 63 USF 60
Jan. 25, 2013 @ Sioux Falls. USF 53 WSU 49
Jan. 5, 2013 @ Winona. WSU 47 USF 44