SIOUX FALLS - In their first postseason game as hosts, University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball capitalized on their home court advantage and defeated Minnesota Duluth, 66-50, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament. The Cougars continue to improve on their Division II era best record, moving to 24-5 for the 2015-16 season, and they will face NSIC north No. 3 seed Minnesota Crookston on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 2:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
Sam Knecht continued to roll late in the season, scoring a game-high 23 points to surpass the 20-point barrier for the fourth time in her last six games. Feeding Knecht for numerous easy buckets was frontcourt mate Alison Klostergaard who put up an astounding stat line of a career-high 14 rebounds, 7 assists, and five points, as Klostergaard and Knecht's high-low connection was the steady force the Cougars' second NSIC Tournament first-round win and third overall postseason victory.
The Cougars were dominant to open the game as the favorite with their NSIC south No. 2 seed, which earned them a home game against NSIC north No. 7 seed UMD. Taylor Varsho wasted no time with a scoring drive to the basket on the opening possession and USF continued to build on their lead.
Knecht scored six straight points on a pair of layups and a jumper from the paint, all coming off Klostergaard feeds. Varsho tacked on one more layup before Knecht's fourth bucket of the opening five minutes forced UMD into a timeout, down 12-4.
Amber Paden knocked down a pair of free throws and Madi Robson beat the shot clock with a slicing left-handed layup to keep the Cougars rolling. Teagan Molden hit a 3-pointer for the largest first-quarter lead and Knecht added a free throw to put USF up 20-8 after the first quarter.
Sioux Falls continued to impose their will on offense, scoring inside and out. Paden used a Varsho pass for a layup on the first possession of the second quarter. Alyson Johnsen followed with one of her three 3-pointers, putting the Cougars up 17 points, 25-8.
The Cougar lead would be cut down quickly by a run from the Bulldogs. Sammy Kozlowski hit a three before Taylor Dillinger and Allyson Harris quickly pieced together six points and brought their deficit to single digits, 26-17. Klostergaard hit three free throws before UMD assembled another run.
Anna Monke responded with two of her own free throws then helped set up Emma Boehm for a 3-pointer that brought the Bulldogs closest to the Cougars since early in the first quarter, down 29-22. With one shot, Robson pushed the USF lead back to double digits, hitting a three off Klostergaard's fifth assist of the opening half and the Cougars led 32-22 at halftime.
The third quarter featured runs by both teams, leading to no change in the 10-point difference as the teams entered the fourth quarter. Sioux Falls answered a Kozlowski jumper to start the quarter with an 11-3 run. Klostergaard sparked the run with a layup and Knecht quickly added four points with a pair of free throws and a Varsho-assisted layup.
Knecht continued her personal run with another layup off a Klostergaard dish before Varsho capped the run with a three-point play, converting a layup through contact and sinking the ensuing free throw from the foul. With 5:40 left in the third quarter, USF led UMD by 16 points, 43-27, but Monke and Harris would respond for the Bulldogs.
Monke converted her own three-point play and Harris added four more points while the Cougar offense stalled. Monke hit two free throws to finish UMD's 9-0 run as Knecht went 1-for-2 at the free throw line with just over two minutes to play in the quarter. Despite Knecht's free throw, Monke tacked on two more of her own to drop the USF lead to six points, 44-38. Molden connected on a three the following possession to stop the run and Knecht added yet another free throw in the final minute, putting USF back up 10 points, 48-38, through three quarters.
After surrendering the first basket of the fourth quarter, Sioux Falls again pounced on the Bulldogs. Knecht hit consecutive layups off feeds from Klostergaard and Molden to start a run for USF. Amber Paden tacked on four straight points with two free throws and an up-and-under layup for a 14-point Cougar advantage.
With a comfortable lead in tow, Johnsen brought the Cougar advantage to its pinnacle. The junior guard knocked down two more threes to put SUF 20 points, 64-44 with 2:33 to play. Molden added a pair of free throws for USF's final points of the game and UMD scored the final six of the game to arrive at 66-50 for a final score.
