OPENING TIP
The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team concludes action during the 2013 calendar year this Saturday afternoon when the Mustangs welcome the University of Sioux Falls Cougars to the R/A Facility. Tip-off between the two teams is set for 2 p.m. SMSU is 16-6 all-time versus Sioux Falls but fell to the Cougars 70-60 in Sioux Falls, S.D., earlier this season.
OPPONENT AT A GLANCE
SIOUX FALLS - USF enters Saturday's game with a 5-4 overall record and 1-4 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Cougars began the season by winning their first five games, including their conference opener over SMSU on Nov. 30, 70-60, but has since dropped four consecutive games. The Cougars are coming off a 0-2 road trip in which they lost a pair of games decided by three points - 63-60 to Winona State on Friday and 78-75 to Upper Iowa on Saturday. USF is led by Laura Johnson and Taylor Varsho, who are averaging 15.1 and 14.0 points per game, respectively. Johnson is also USF's leading rebounder as she is averaging 7.9 boards per game. Travis Traphagen is in his sixth season at the helm of the Cougar women's basketball program. He owns a 103-56 career record and is 3-1 versus SMSU.
SERIES HISTORY
SMSU 16-6 | Saturday's game between Sioux Falls and SMSU is the 23rd meeting in a series that began in the 1969-70 season. USF took the first two meetings, but SMSU would put together the series' longest winning streak (11 games) over the course of the next 16 games as SMSU won all but one of the contests. SMSU is 1-2 versus USF since the Cougars joined the NSIC in 2012-13. SMSU dropped a 70-60 decision to USF earlier this season at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., see page 7 for full series results.
