By: UNK Athletic Communications
Kearney, Neb. – Three players scored in double figures and Sioux Falls feasted on turnovers to slip past Nebraska Kearney, 63-60, Monday night at the Health & Sports Center.
This was the season opener for both. Last year in South Dakota, the Cougars beat the Lopers by a 62-51 score.
One of the preseason favorites in the NSIC, the Cougs fell behind 10-2 early on, but a timeout quickly righted the ship. Thanks to six made threes and those turnovers, USF opened a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, 53-41, before UNK more than rallied.
A 19-6 run featured a three-point play from freshman point guard Eliana Arambula (St. Joseph, Mo.), a triple from freshman guard Lexi Hecht (Wamego, Kan.) and a three-point play by 2026 MIAA Freshman of the Year Myleigh Weers (Diller). That gave UNK a 60-59 lead with 33 seconds left but USF went 4 of 6 at the line to finish the scoring.Click and drag to move
Arambula was called for a foul trying to block a shot baseline and then junior Anna Vaaler rebounded a missed free throw by a teammate with 10 seconds left. USF ended the night just 7 of 15 at the charity stripe; Weers missed a shot in the lane prior to Vaaler's big o-board with Hecht's last second trey hitting rim instead of net.
"We dominated the paint (a 42-30-point advantage) so their made threes are whatever. But we can't turn it over 22 times," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. "Got to take care of it a little bit better. The run that made the difference was 12; you've got to find a way to cut that to six or eight."
Sioux Falls tallied 27 points off 22 UNK miscues, made five more threes than the Lopers and took the third quarter by a 21-12 margin. Vaaler (23 points, nine rebounds) got close to a double double with forward Kami Wadsworth and guard Alexis Ross at 15 points apiece. Finally, this trio combined to go 6 of 15 from deep.
Having a plus four rebounding margin and going 13 of 14 at the line, the Lopes were paced by Arambula (11 points, eight assists, seven boards), Kansas senior forward Jordan Sears (13 points, seven rebounds) and Serbian senior post Tara Biocanin (12 points, five rebounds). Finally, Emporia State transfer and post Makenzie McDaniel had 10 points in nine minutes off the bench.
"The way we look at it early in the year, you can schedule to win the game, or you can test yourself and see where you're at and to prepare for conference play," said Johnson. "I appreciated the fight and the ability to come out and go and get it. We knew it was going to be a challenge and a tough game."
UNK faces Minnesota Crookston Friday and Northern State Saturday in the annual MIAA/NSIC Crossover Tournament. Missouri Western is the other team coming to Buckle Court.