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THIS WEEK: Minot State University is back on the road playing its final two games against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division teams, playing at the University of Sioux Falls Friday (6 p.m.) and Southwest Minnesota State Saturday (5 p.m.)

RECORDS: MISU is 9-11 overall, 5-11 in the NSIC. USF is 11-9 overall and an even 8-8 in NSIC play. SMSU is 4-18 overall and 2-14 in conference play.

COACHES CORNER: Sheila Green Gerding is in her 18th season as the Minot State head coach and sports a lofty 311-209 record. The Cougars are coached by Travis Traphagen, who is 97-46 in five seasons. SMSU's head coach is Alison Kruger, who is 15-53 in three seasons as a head coach.

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: Minot State, USF and SMSU were not ranked in the latest USA Today Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: The Beavers fell twice to powers from the NSIC South, falling 85-65 to league-leading Concordia University, St. Paul Friday and were edged 83-82 by Minnesota State as the Beavers couldn't get a last-second 3-pointer for the win to fall. USF didn't have much of a problem with Minnesota Crookston Friday, handling the Golden Eagles 76-59 on the road. Saturday, the Cougars had to work an extra shift to top Bemidji State, winning 82-70 in overtime. The Mustangs played a midweek game and defeated South Dakota Mines 71-55 in nonconference play. SMSU lost twice on the road over the weekend, falling 57-52 at BSU and 76-72 in overtime at UMC.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State faced both teams last season in nonconference play, falling four times to Sioux Falls, twice at home and twice on the road, during both team's independent seasons. The Beavers were upended at home against SMSU and trail 1-0 in the series.

NOTING THE COUGARS: The University of Sioux Falls and its opponent have scored the exact same number of points – 1266 – through 20 games this season… USF has been much like Minot State this season in it is 8-2 at home, but just 3-7 on the road… The Cougars haven't been stellar from the floor this season, hitting just 38.1 percent of their shots on the year… Laura Johnson has put together a solid junior season, averaging a staggering 35.8 minutes per game, while leading the Cougars with a 13.1 scoring average and an 8.3 rebounding average. She has 50 assists, 26 steals and 23 blocks on the year. USF has played an overtime game twice this season, going 1-1 overall.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State has struggled much of the season, but have a 2-6 record at home  this year, compared to a 1-11 road mark… SMSU has been better as the Mustangs have won two of their past four and three of eight… Scoring has been one of the big problems for the Mustangs as SMSU averages just 57.6 points per game, hitting just 63.8 percent from the free-throw line… Alison Nagel has put together a solid junior campaign, scoring 11. 1 points and pulling down 5.3 rebounds per game… Youth is the name of the game for SMSU as they have just one senior on the roster and seven freshmen and sophomores. The Mustangs starting roster features two freshmen and three juniors.

OH, SO KLOSE: Minot State sophomore guard Morgan Klose (Fairview, N.D.) had a great look at the potential game winning basket against Minnesota State Saturday but just missed the 3-pointer from the left wing. It didn't change the fact she had one of her most productive weekends of the season, however. Klose hit for a career-high 23 points, knocking down 3-of-5 3-pointers and 8-of-10 shots from the floor. Over the weekend, she had 23 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal for the Beavers.

DON'T WE KNOW EACH OTHER: Minot State and the University of Sioux Falls met four times last year as both teams struggled to find games as NCAA Division II Independents. Not only did the Beavers and Cougars play four times, which doesn't happen very often in a season, the teams met for the two-game home-and-away series over the course of three weeks. All but one game was close as USF beat up Minot State in game 3, winning 79-36. The remainder were decided by eight or fewer points, including a pair of four-point games to bookend the series.

MILESTONE FOR BOAG: Junior forward Carly Boag (Tamworth, Australia) needed less time to get to 1,000 career points than any of the other 10 members of the elite group. Boag became the 11th player to reach the milestone against Minnesota Duluth in just her 72nd career game. She sits in a tied with Tiffany Hegel for eighth place all time with 1,038 points so far. With 62 points, she would become just the sixth player to reach 1,100. Boag will need to continue to be extremely good, however, to reach the top two scorers as the Beavers all-time leader is Kendra Meyer with 1,710 and No. 2 is Kayla Blom with 1,620. Boag is also chasing history on the rebounding end, thanks to her league-leading 11.5 average per game. She needs 34 rebounds to break the single season record of 262 by Nicky Burleson in 1992-93 and is on pace to become the all-time leading rebounder, needing just 181 to break Cindy Tutin's 26-year-old record of 812.

LINE WORK: The Beavers have been both frequent visitors to the free-throw line and efficient once there. Minot State has shot 403 free throws this season, nearly 100 more than Southwest Minnesota State and 63 more than USF. The Beavers have hit a solid 74.2 percent of their attempts, knocking down 299 on the season.

MOLINA WATCH: Senior guard Sacarra Molina (Hinsdale, Mont.) took a big step forward toward becoming the 12th Minot State player to reach 1,000 career points as she finished with 23 total points last weekend to push to 925 in her career. She needs to average 10.8 points per game to reach 1,000 by the end of the season. Minot State has at least seven games – six regular season and one NSIC playoff game – remaining.

BE BETTER OR I'LL TURN THIS BUS AROUND: Minot State looks to improve on a 1-6 road record as the Beavers travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. and Marshall, Minn. Minot is still looking for its first win outside the state of North Dakota, as the Beavers one road win is a 74-73 win over rival University of Mary Dec. 1 in Bismarck, N.D. The Beavers are 0-6 when playing outside the Peace Garden State.