USF women dominate Minnesota Crookston
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (USF) – The University of Sioux Falls women's basketball team delivered a commanding postseason performance, defeating Minnesota Crookston 81-69 in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament at the Stewart Center. With the victory, the Cougars (17-13) advance to the NSIC Quarterfinals, where they will face in-state rival Northern State.
Both teams came out firing, trading baskets in a high-scoring opening frame. Minnesota Crookston shot an impressive 62.5% from the field, including 3-of-4 from three, to grab a narrow 23-22 lead after 10 minutes. The Cougars kept pace behind balanced scoring, with Anna Vaaler and Ayla Brown leading the early attack.
Sioux Falls responded with a smothering defensive effort, holding UMC to just 11 points on 33.3% shooting in the second quarter. The Cougars seized control with a 21-11 scoring advantage, fueled by efficient shooting and dominant rebounding. USF entered halftime with a 43-34 lead.
The Cougars broke the game open in the third, outscoring Minnesota Crookston 26-11 behind a blistering 57.1% shooting performance. Megan Fannin caught fire, drilling five threes, while Ayla Brown and Kami Wadsworth controlled the tempo. USF stretched its lead to as many as 26 points before heading into the final quarter up 69-45.
Minnesota Crookston mounted a late rally, outscoring Sioux Falls 24-12 in the final frame, but the deficit proved too substantial to overcome. The Cougars maintained their composure down the stretch, securing the 81-69 victory and punching their ticket to the NSIC Quarterfinals.
Sharp Shooting: USF connected on 45.9% from the field (28-of-61) and 38.5% from three (10-of-26).
Free Throw Precision: The Cougars converted 15-of-18 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.
Balanced Attack: Six different Cougars scored 7+ points, showcasing their impressive depth.
Unselfish Play: USF consistently made the extra pass, resulting in 18 assists and numerous high-percentage shots.
Megan Fannin: Led USF with 21 points, knocking down 6-of-9 from three to ignite the offense while also collecting 6 rebounds.
Kami Wadsworth: Delivered 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, creating problems for defenders at all levels.
Ayla Brown: Stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds, orchestrating the team's offensive flow.
Alexis Rose: Contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds, anchoring the defensive effort.
Brecli Honner: Provided a crucial spark off the bench with 7 points on efficient 3-of-4 shooting.
With the win, the Cougars advance to face in-state rival Northern State in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals. These two teams will square off on Sunday, March 2nd at 11:00am at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. For all NSIC WBB Tournament information, head over the 2025 NSIC Women's Basketball Tournament page.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Mike Bianchi: Admit it, UCF fans, you miss hating USF
ORLANDO, Fla. — I'm just going to come right out and say it, even if many UCF fans will wag their finger and accuse me of sleeping with the enemy. I feel sorry for the USF Bulls. And I miss them. I miss them desperately. Advertisement I miss their fans. I miss their arrogance. I miss their banter and their buildup to the War on I-4. The reason I bring this up today is because USF just lost its highly respected athletic director Michael Kelly, who accepted the AD job at Navy earlier this week. Kelly was one of the program's biggest assets. He stabilized an athletic department that was in flux when he arrived and he was the driving force behind finally getting an on-campus football stadium approved and underway — something Bulls fans had been dreaming about for decades. Losing Kelly in the midst of the debt-heavy stadium project is yet another major blow for an athletic program that is already struggling to stay relevant — both financially and competitively. Here's all you need to know: UCF will make $45 million in Big 12 TV money next season while USF will make $7 million in the American Athletic Conference. In other words, the Knights will make nearly $400 million more over the next decade than will the Bulls. Advertisement I know, I know. I know what you UCF fans are thinking. You're thinking: 'All those years of arrogance bought them exactly what they deserve: a front-row seat to our payday. Maybe we should start a GoFundMe for them — NOT!' I get it. We all know the history. For years, USF was UCF's arch-rival — not just on the field, but in boardrooms and conference calls, in the politics of college football realignment, in the back channels of the old Big East and Conference USA. The Bulls tried desperately to keep UCF from joining them at college football's big-boy table. The Bulls got their big break first in 2005 when they were invited into the Big East — a league that still had automatic BCS bowl status and enough brand-name cachet to feel 'big time.' Advertisement Meanwhile, UCF — even though its program was older — sat stuck in the mid-major muck, banging on the glass like a frantic Christmas Eve shopper who shows up at the department store just as it has closed and locked its doors. USF was like a typical trust-fund kid who was born on third base and acted like he hit a triple. USF's leadership — led by former president Judy Genshaft, head coach Jim Leavitt and the school's cocky fan base — made no secret of how they viewed UCF at the time: as an afterthought that didn't belong in their stratosphere. The Bulls dropped UCF from the schedule and their message was clear: 'We don't need UCF. We don't want UCF. We'll do whatever we can to keep UCF out of the Big East.' USF had its 15 minutes of fame, rising quickly under Leavitt, briefly ascending as high as No. 2 in the national polls in 2007, and thinking it was poised to become Florida's next football powerhouse. Advertisement Then — poof! — it was gone. In the years since, the Big East crumbled under the weight of realignment. USF lost its seat at the big kids' table. UCF kept grinding, kept building, kept winning — culminating in a move to the Big 12 that USF fans once would have considered unthinkable. Which brings me back to my original point: I can't help it. I feel sorry for USF. Not because I think UCF owes them anything, but because I always believed UCF and USF were better together than they are apart. There's no denying UCF's ascendance has left the Knights without a natural rival and feeling somewhat adrift in the Big 12. Advertisement All the Big 12 teams are a thousand miles away. The shared history is thin. The hate, frankly, has to be manufactured. USF was the game where everything mattered except the records. USF was the game where fans could talk-trash all year long, and nobody had to Google where the other school was located. I'll never forget the 2013 game, the first 'War on I-4' after UCF joined USF in the new American Athletic Conference. The stakes were massive for UCF with a potential Fiesta Bowl bid on the line. Even though UCF was 10-1 at the time and USF was 2-8, the Knights had to score on a long pass from Blake Bortles to Breshad Perriman with less than five minutes left to eke out a 23-20 win in front of a frenzied crowd at the Bounce House. Advertisement Or what about the 2017 thriller on Black Friday when undefeated UCF beat 9-win USF, 49-42, on a late 95-yard kickoff return from Mike Hughes? It was one of the most dramatic college football games I've ever seen and had everybody — including Dale Earnhardt Jr. — raving about it on social media. Those games mattered. And part of what made them matter was the mutual disdain. Now? UCF fans get to travel to Lubbock, Texas, and Ames, Iowa — fine places, I'm sure, but they don't exactly stir the emotions the same way Tampa did. And USF? They're trying to rebuild under promising coach Alex Golesh, fighting to regain relevance in a sport that has increasingly locked out programs without a Power 4 label. Advertisement Here's the hard truth: The Bulls are now where UCF once was — noses pressed against the glass, watching their old rival dine on surf and turf while they eat beans and weenies. I understand how many UCF fans delight in USF's demise, but as an Orlandoan who used to love to watch this rivalry simmer and boil, I'd rather see the Bulls back to their swaggering, peacocking ways, pounding their chests and acting as if they invented college football. I'd rather see them in the Big 12, where the War on I-4 could be an annual high-stakes affair again. In this era of college sports, where geography is ignored and tradition is sold off for media rights, rivalries are one of the few things that still feel real. Advertisement And I miss this one. I miss the jabs on social media. I miss the War on I-4. I miss the green-and-gold invasion of Orlando. I miss UCF fans packing Raymond James Stadium and taking over the parking lots. Even if UCF has blown by USF in national cachet, that doesn't mean the Knights should root for the Bulls to fail. In fact, it's in UCF's long-term interest for USF to get back up, dust itself off and rejoin the big stage. For all the bitterness that once defined this rivalry, here's the truth that no Knights fan wants to say out loud: UCF football was more fun when USF mattered enough to hate. ____

Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
BYU coach Kevin Young signs contract extension after Sweet 16 run
After a stellar debut season, BYU coach Kevin Young was rewarded with a long-term contract extension, the school announced on Thursday. Details of the agreement, including length of the deal and monetary value, were not disclosed. According to a news release, the extension 'will keep Young in Provo for the foreseeable future.' 'My family and I have loved our first year at BYU, being surrounded by great people, at a great university with shared values,' Young said in a statement. 'I'm excited to continue to build a program based on trying to help young men prepare for the NBA, win at the highest level and do it at BYU.' Young guided the Cougars to a 26-10 record in 2024-25 and an appearance in the Sweet 16 -- BYU's first since 2011. It also marked the Cougars' most wins in a season since 2016. Such success sets up high expectations for BYU next season, especially after the Cougars landed the country's top overall prospect in A.J. Dybantsa, a 6-foot-9 small forward who could be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft. Behind Dybantsa, BYU boasted the No. 13-ranked recruiting class for 2025, according to ESPN. Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Kenton Ridge wins 1st state high school championship
A local high school is bringing home its first softball state championship. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Kenton Ridge Cougars Softball won the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OSHAA) Division IV state championship by beating Hillsboro, 9-0, in Akron on Thursday. Advertisement They finished the season with a perfect 32-0 record. This was Kenton Ridge's eighth trip to the Final Four. 'This time, they didn't just make history, they claimed it!' the Northeastern Local School District said on social media. 'The team played with heart, grit, and the kind of energy that makes history.' TRENDING STORIES: Kenton Ridge put the game out of reach by scoring seven runs in the third inning. Jayden Davis and Kendall Massie each drove in two runs for the Cougars. Ivee Rastatter held Hillsboro to five hits over seven innings and struck out nine batters. 'This team's legacy is built on hustle and the unwavering support of each other, their coaches, families, and fans. What a season. What a finish. What a TEAM,' Northeastern Local Schools said. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]