Women's basketball upends (RV) Sioux Falls 66-41

Saturday, December 15

St. Cloud, Minn.

3:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

6-3, 3-2NSIC

University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)

7-3, 3-2NSIC

Sioux Falls

St. Cloud State

Katrina Theis scored a career-high 16 points in the Huskies 66-41 win over (RV) Sioux Falls.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

12/15/2018 8:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – It's been quite the weekend for the St. Cloud State women's basketball team. The Huskies opened the weekend with a dominant 72-60 win over Southwest Minnesota State University, moving to 2-2 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play while finding their offense along the way. On Saturday, St. Cloud State's winning ways continued as the team earned, arguably, its biggest win of the season, upending the nationally ranked Sioux Falls University Cougars 66-41 in regulation.

The Huskies started out strong right from the get go, as they took a commanding 19-11 lead over the Cougars in the first 10 minutes of play. In fact, St. Cloud State took its first lead of the game 15 seconds in, as Mallie Doucette (Colfax, Wis / Colfax) hit the game opening shot to give the Huskies an early 3-0 lead they would never relinquish. In fact, St. Cloud State would outscore the potent Sioux Falls offense 10-5 in the opening five minutes of the game, as Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) and Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) were forces to be reckoned with for the Huskies, scoring a combined seven points to give their team a 12-6 lead with 4:50 remaining in the quarter.

Although the Cougars managed to score six points in the remaining minutes, they never managed to get within six of St. Cloud State's lead, as the Huskies closed the quarter with a five-point scoring run to hold a 19-11 lead after one quarter of play. The team was even better in the second quarter, as St. Cloud State scored 20 points while its stingy defense held Sioux Falls to just 10 to hold a 39-21 lead at the half, curtesy of a last second three by Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson as the buzzer sounded.

Of course, there was always a chance for Sioux Falls to get hot in the second half of the game. The Cougars were averaging an impressive 74.9 points per game thanks to a .415 shooting perchance as a team. Sioux Falls defense was also superb entering the game, as it was holding opponents to just 55.8 points per game. In the second half, the Huskies would ruin both those averages, especially in the third quarter. The St. Cloud State defense held the Cougars to .167 shooting in that quarter alone, as the visitors managed to score just eight points. On the flip side, the Huskies scored in the double-digits for the seventh consecutive quarter counting Friday evening's game and held a 53-29 lead at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter proved to be the closest of the game, as St. Cloud State only outscored Sioux Falls 13-12. However, the damage had already been done for the Huskies. Wortz set the tone by hitting a big three from the top of the key, extending St. Cloud State's lead to 56-29 at 8:40. From there, the Huskies continued to pound on the points, as Doucette, Jocelyn Johnson (Lakeville, Minn. / South) and Caitlyn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn. / North) all scored at least two points in the final 10 minutes of play to cement the 66-41 victory for the Huskies.

Theis was the team's leading scorer, as she tallied a career-high 16 points in the victory. Doucette added 15 points of her own, as she went 4-9 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line. Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) was the team's leading rebounder for the third-straight game, tallying nine rebounds to bring her weekend average to 11.5.

Thanks to the win, St. Cloud State is now 6-3 overall and holds a 3-2 mark in NSIC play. The Huskies are also 4-1 in the comforts of Halenbeck Hall with their lone loss coming at the hands of Minnesota-Duluth on December 12.

With finals and the holiday break coming up, St. Cloud State will enjoy a nice two week break before hitting the court. The Huskies will look to avenge their loss against the Bulldogs on December 30 when they travel to Duluth, Minnesota for their first NSIC game of the second semester. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.