The United South Central girls’ basketball team knew it had a mismatch on the interior against Blooming Prairie and once the Rebels found it they exploited it to the tune of a 68-44 blowout victory Monday in Wells.

The Blossoms (12-12, 8-8 Gopher) had no answer for USC’s size and physicality in the paint as juniors Val Sahr and Kayla Stenzel combined for 38 points and 24 rebounds.

“That was our advantage tonight was our inside game, which has been for quite a bit recently,” said Rebels head coach Stu Hendrickson. “You gotta take advantage of where the mismatches are.”

Sahr led USC (16-7, 14-2 Gopher) with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Eleven of her rebounds came on the offensive glass as the Rebels held a 43-30 rebounding advantage for the game.

Stenzel finished with 18 points and nine rebounds for the Rebels and helped USC take over in the second half.

After a slow start to the first half where both teams finished with 20 rebounds, the Rebels outrebounded Blooming Prairie 23-10 in the second half.

“The game plan was to get the ball inside and we got the ball inside and we missed some shots in the early going,” Hendrickson said. “It took us a while to take advantage of that.”

The perimeter game got going too for USC as Katie and Kristie Ovrebo and Danielle Koestler knocked down shots to keep the Blossoms off balance.

Katie finished with 11 points while Kristie and Koestler each had seven points.

The victory capped off an 11-game conference game winning streak for the Rebels, who with a Waterville-Elysian-Morristown victory over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Thursday could clinch a share of the Gopher Conference title.

“We did what we could here,” Hendrickson said. “We’re hoping Waterville can knock off New Richland and share the conference championship.”

After starting the season with a 4-6 record, USC has hit its stride recently. The Rebels have won 12 of their past 13 games, including victories over NRHEG and W-E-M.

USC plays Granada-Huntley-East Chain Tuesday to conclude the regular season and heads to Mapleton next Tuesday for the first round of the Section 2AA tournament. Maple River beat the Rebels in the regular season 55-43 and afterward Hendrickson said he’d like to get another shot at the Eagles.

He’ll get another chance at Maple River, which ended USC’s season last year in the first round with a 81-64 victory, despite the Rebels having defeated the Eagles in the regular season.

USC 68, Blooming Prairie 44

Blooming Prairie 19 25 — 44

USC 29 39 — 68

Blooming Prairie scoring: Whitney Burt 13, Marie Morem 12, Jordan Noble 6, Janelle Morem 4, Yasmine Smith 4, Kelli Naatz 2, Tricia Deboer 2, Samantha Johnson 1.

USC scoring: Val Sahr 20, Kayla Stenzel 18, Katie Ovrebo 11, Kristie Ovrebo 7, Danielle Koestler 7, Taylor Allis 3, Cassidy Latusek 2.