SIOUX FALLS - Behind another dominant performance from University of Sioux Falls Women’s Basketball’s frontcourt players, the Cougars defeated Minnesota Crookston, 75-62, in an NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars move to 25-5 this season and will face Northern State in a semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 29 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
Sioux Falls post trio of Sam Knecht, Alison Klostergaard and Amber Paden combined to score 46 points and were the main contributors for USF’s 48-30 edge in points in the paint. Knecht finished with a game-high 22 points, the fifth time she has eclipsed the 20-point threshold in her past five games.
Klostergaard was a terror for the Golden Eagles as she stuffed the stat sheet once again, recording her seventh double-double of the season and fifth in her last seven games. The 5-foot-11 forward finished with 15 points with 11 rebounds and added four assists and two steals. Paden finished with nine points, but did so on just six shots while battling foul trouble throughout the game. Paden scored eight points in a span at the end of the first quarter and start of the second, that helped the Cougars distance themselves from Minnesota Crookston (18-10).
A slow offensive start was quickly put to bed by Knecht and Klostergaard, who finished the first frame with a combined 14 points. The post tandem helped USF to a 6-1 lead, but Minnesota Crookston’s all-conference forward Katrina Nordick quickly erased that with five of her 12 first-quarter points.
The teams jockeyed for position throughout the first quarter with USF’s lead reaching five points after a layup from Paden. Nordick added six straight points to give UMC their first lead since the opening minute of the game. The lead changed on the next six possessions before USF’s guards turned the tides. Alyson Johnsen drilled a three and sparked a 9-0 run to end the first quarter and give USF a 25-17 edge.
Minnesota Crookston’s Isieoma Odor scored two of her 15 points to start the second quarter, but USF then shut the Golden Eagles out for the next five minutes of the game. Over that span, USF built a 36-19 lead with four different Cougars scoring in the 11-0 run. Paden started it with two layups and Johnsen capped it with her second three of the game.
The Golden Eagles clawed back to an 11-point deficit with Odor and Alexa Thielman layups. Marie Malloy stopped the run with a layup after a backdoor cut allowed Taylor Varsho to find her wide open on the way to the basket. Knecht hit a jumper and connected on a free throw, her only three points of the second quarter, to close the scoring and give USF a 41-29 lead entering halftime.
The Cougars started quickly again in the third quarter, pushing the lead back to 17 points within the first four minutes of the second half. Knecht converted layups on consecutive possessions and Klosergaard continued the run with another layup, while Teagan Molden completed the 7-0 run with a free throw.
Minnesota Crookston score four straight but Johnsen again drilled a clutch three to put USF back on top 51-35 with less than five minutes to play in the third quarter. Both teams’ post players traded buckets as the clock waned, but USF kept a double-digit advantage into the fourth quarter, up 55-44, led by Knecht’s eight points in the third frame.
After a Minnesota Crookston jumper two minutes into the quarter, USF didn’t allow the Golden Eagles to get any closer than 12 points. Knecht started the run to put USF up 62-46 with a layup and Taylor Varsho used a Madi Robson steal to score a fast break three-point play.
Varsho hit a 3-pointer two possessions later to bring USF back to their largest lead of the game, 67-50. Sioux Falls answered every Minnesota Crookston comeback attempt with Klostergaard and Varsho combining for 13 points in the fourth quarter. Robson sank two free throws for the Cougars’ final points of the game. Robson finished with six points and six assists while Varsho’s six fourth-quarter points brought her to 10 points, the 27th time she’s reached double digits.
Sioux Falls held a 39-30 advantage in rebounds and shot 46.2 percent for the game. The Cougar defense held UMC under 40 percent shooting for the second time this season, keeping the Golden Eagles to a 39.0 percent mark.