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THIS WEEK: Minot State University travels to Augustana College for the first round of the NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament, set to tip off at 6 p.m., at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

RECORDS: MISU enters postseason play at 13-13 overall and is 9-13 in NSIC play, earning the No. 6 seed in the NSIC North Division. Augie boasts a 20-6 overall record and finished 16-6 in the NSIC South Division, taking the No. 3 seed.

COACHES CORNER: COACHES CORNER: Sheila Green Gerding is in her 18th season as the Minot State head coach and sports a lofty 315-211 record. Dave Krauth is in his 24th season as the head coach at Augustana College and is an impressive 490-215 during that span.

FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Augustana College has been ranked all season in the USA Today Division II Coaches Poll and sits as the No. 23 ranked team in the country. Minot State was not ranked in the latest poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State split a pair of road games to finish the regular season. The Beavers rallied in the second half to top Northern State 60-50 in Aberdeen, S.D., but lost to Minnesota State Moorhead Saturday 74-61.

OVERALL SERIES: Augustana College defeated Minot State 94-66 to take a 2-0 lead in the series with both teams members on NCAA Division II. AC topped MISU last season during the Beavers independent year.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana College has started the same way for all 26 games this season and the five starters are averaging at least 22.2 minutes per game… The Vikings start three seniors and fourth plays significant minutes. Leading the way is senior Alex Feeney who was a first-team All-NSIC selection last season and an honorable mention All-American. Feeney leads the team with a 14.9 points per game scoring average and a 7.1 rebounds per game average. She has only missed seven free throws all season… Augie has an impressive 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, finishing the regular season with 458 assists compared to just 342 turnovers… Sophomore guard Shaunteva Ashley, the team's second leading scorer at 11.0, has 101 assists and only 50 turnovers… AC is one of the top scoring teams in the country, hitting 1,999 points so far this season – a 76.9 scoring average… All five starters for Augustana College have more assists than  turnovers and all five have hit at least 17 3-pointers.

NOTING THE NSIC / SANFORD HEALTH WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT:  The Beavers finished with the sixth seed in the NSIC North and travel to NSIC South No. 3 Augustana College. In other first round games, NSIC North No. 1 St. Cloud State plays host to No. 8 South Southwest Minnesota State; No. 4 South Winona State plays No. 5 Minnesota Duluth; No. 2 South Minnesota State takes on No. 7 North Bemidji State; No. 3 North MSU-Moorhead plays host to No. 6 South Sioux Falls; No. 4 North entertains No. 5 Wayne State and No. 2 North University of Mary plays host to No. 7 South Upper Iowa. First and second round games are at the highest remaining seed's home court, setting up a potential Minot State-U-Mary rubber match in the second round. The Semifinals and Championship are set for Taylor Arena in Rochester, Minn., March 8-9.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: The Wednesday game marks Minot State's first Northern State Intercollegiate Conference playoff game for the first-year member. The Beavers have not participated in a postseason game since bowing out of the Dakota Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament in 2011 with a 71-66 loss at Valley City State. MISU was one of the final teams eliminated from the NAIA Division II national playoffs that season. The Beavers were not eligible for the post season last year as it was finalizing its transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II.

MOLINA WATCH: Beavers senior guard Sacarra Molina (Hinsdale, Mont.) is stuck on 999 career points, needing just one more to become the 12th player in school history to hit that plateau. Molina, who reached 999 points in the first half of the Beavers loss on Saturday, is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.6 points per game and second leading rebounder with 106 on the season. Molina also leads the Beavers with 65 assists, averaging 2.5 per game.

SECOND HALF SURGE: Minot State will have a tough time evening their point totals this season as the Beavers have been outscored by a total of 30 points (1.2 per game). But Minot State has a chance to finish the season on the plus side in the second half. After a solid second-half rally against Northern State to earn a 60-50 win, Minot State is now plus-11 overall in the second half. Minot State has outscored its opponents 891-880 after halftime.

STEAL TOWN: Minot State's Carly Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) has led the team all season in points per game (18.1), rebounds per game (11.9) and blocks (30), but the 6-foot-2 forward is also the team's leader in steals with 71 on the season. She is second overall in the conference at her 71 swipes, one behind Katrina Newman from Minnesota Duluth and is 40th in the nation with a 2.73 per-game average.

KNOCKING DOWN 3S: Sacarra Molina didn't take enough 3-point shots this season to qualify for the NCAA national statistics, but would be in a tie for eighth place overall in 3-point field goal percentage with her 42.6 rate. In order to be listed nationally, players must average 2.0 makes per game, while Molina averages just 1.0 makes per game. She is, however, ranked fifth in the Northern Sun with her 42.6 percentage.

RICE GETTING MORE TIME: Minot State freshman forward Bridger Rice (Savage, Mont.) played just 89 minutes of basketball heading into the Beavers home game against Minnesota Crookston two weeks ago. In the UMC game, Rice played 11 minutes, hitting a key 3-pointer and adding a rebound. Since that game, Rice has average 12.3 minutes per game, scoring six points and pulling down three rebounds. She earned her first collegiate start against Northern State Friday, playing 12 minutes.

LOTS OF TURNOVER: Minot State has struggled at times turning the ball over, averaging 16.7 per game. But, the Beavers have forced 16.7 turnovers this season, turning opponents over 433 times. Minot State has generated 234 steals on the season.