Box Score
The Peacocks rallied late in the second half of tonight's NSIC contest at Sioux Falls but fell short as the Cougars snapped Upper Iowa's three game winning streak with a 66-63 decision. Upper Iowa trailed by nine late in the game, but used a 13-2 run to take a lead with just under three minutes to play.
Sioux Falls found their stride again over the final minutes and edged UIU by three points. With the loss, UIU dropped to 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the NSIC, while USF improved to 10-8 overall and 7-7 in the conference.
The Peacocks jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the home team quickly caught up and then pushed out to a six-point lead midway through the half thanks to an 11-0 run. UIU still trailed by five, 18-13, with 6:46 showing on the clock, but fueled by an 11-0 run, the Peacocks moved ahead by six points. UIU earned their largest lead of the game minutes later, 31-22, but the home team scored the final four points of the half to pull within five at the break, 31-26.
In the second half, the Cougars outscored their guests 29-15 over the opening eleven minutes. Upper Iowa coughed the ball up six times over that span.
Whitney Kieffer began to take over the Peacock offense. The sophomore for UIU converted four straight layups as UIU closed the gap to one. Two of the bunnies came after a steal by Kieffer in the open court.
As Kieffer initiated the run, Upper Iowa was able to climb back to a two-point lead, 61-59, thanks to a 15-4 run by the visitors.
Four points from the home team gave them a two-point lead, but
Lauren Buck answered with a jumper to knot the score at 63-63 with just over a minute to play.
The Cougars got a lay-in from Laura Johnson and a free throw while forcing the Peacocks into turnovers on each of their final two possessions claiming the 66-63 win.
Kieffer led the team with 26 points recording her second straight double-double thanks to 10 rebounds; she also added 5 steals on defense.
Carly Pagel joined Kieffer with a big scoring night. The freshman post scored 20 points and snared 9 rebounds.
Upper Iowa returns home next weekend with a pair of games against the Dragons of MSU Moorhead on Friday, Feb. 1, and the Wolves of Northern State on Saturday, Feb. 2. Both games will tip at 6 p.m. in Dorman Gym.
