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RECORDS: Minot State is 14-4 overall and 10-4 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this season. Concordia, St. Paul is currently 15-6 overall and 10-4 in the NSIC while Minnesota State sits with a 13-5 overall mark and a 10-4 record in the Northern Sun.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's is coached by Sheila Green Gerding. In her 19th season at the helm of the Beaver women's basketball program, Green Gerding has amassed an impressive 329-217 overall record. She has qualified Minot State for six NAIA National Tournaments over her career while also coaching 12 All-Americans both at the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels.   The Golden Bears are coached by Paul Fessler who is in his fourteenth season as head coach at Concordia. During his tenure he has led the program to a 293-125 record, including an impressive 181-73 record in Northern Sun play. Last year, he led the program to a fifth NSIC regular season championship and ninth NCAA Tournament appearance. The program also has three NSIC Tournament titles and a pair of runs to the Sweet Sixteen in his tenure. The Mavericks are coached by Emilee Thiesse who is in just her second year as a head coach. In her first season with Minnesota State, Thiesse led her team to a 26-6 overall record including an appearance in the NCAA Division II Central Region semi-final round. Prior to MSU, Thiesse spent three seasons at South Dakota State where she served as recruiting coordinator and academic coordinator for the Jackrabbits. SDSU made three consecutive NCAA Division I postseason tournament appearances and won three straight Summit League titles while compiling a 65-34 overall record.

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: All three teams received votes in the Jan. 28 USA TODAY NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll. For the second consecutive week, Minot State received votes in the national poll. The Beavers received three points in the poll, down two points from the previous week.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State finished off their four-game home stand with a pair of wins in front of their home crowd at the Minot State Dome. Friday Jan. 24 MISU outlasted University of Minnesota Crookston 72-64. On Saturday Jan. 25, The Beavers put up a season-high 94 points in a 94-84 victory over Bemidji State University. On the weekend, Minot State shot 50 percent from the floor. Concordia University, St. Paul won both of their games this past weekend, defeating Upper Iowa 71-65 on Friday night and then took down Winona State 65-57. Minnesota State also beat UIU and WSU on the road this past weekend. The Mavericks beat Winona State 77-53 on Friday before blowing out Upper Iowa 87-61 on Saturday afternoon. It's the third time this season the Golden Bears and Mavericks have gone a combined 4-0 over a weekend series.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State has faced both Concordia, St. Paul and Minnesota State just one time apiece in program history; both coming last season, Minot State's first full season as a member of the NSIC and NCAA Division II. MISU fell to the Golden Bears 85-65 and nearly pulled off the upset against the Mavericks, but fell short 83-82.

NOTING THE GOLDEN BEARS: Over the last ten years, Concordia University, St. Paul has been one of the best women's basketball programs in the NSIC and all of NCAA Division II. CU has had just one losing season in that time span and eight seasons with 20 wins or more and 2013-14 appears to be no exception as the Golden Bears are 15-6 overall. Anika Whiting leads Concordia University with 16.4 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. She is just one-of-four players to average double figures for the Golden Bears this season. CU is one of the best teams in the nation at taking care of the ball and finding open teammates as they rank fourth in all of NCAA Division II with a 1.34 assists/turnover ratio.

NOTING THE MAVERICKS: It's no secret Minnesota State has a high-powered, fast paced offense. At 83.2 points per game, MSU ranks seventh in all of NCAA Division II in putting points on the board. Ali Wilkinson leads the Mavericks in scoring with 19.0 points per game. She is the only player on her team to average double digit points per game. However, the Mavericks clearly have depth as ten players average 5.0 points per game or more and 10.0 minutes per game. On the defensive end of the floor, Minnesota State does a great job defending the three-point shot as they are holding opponents to just 27.0 percent from beyond the arc, the second best mark in the NSIC. The Mavericks have flourished from three-point land as they have hit 138-of-383 (36.0 percent) on their long balls on the season, the second most in the conference this year.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the first time in her career, Christina Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week. Boag averaged 24.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game to help Minot State to a pair of NSIC North Division wins. She scored a career high 29 points in a 94-84 win over Bemidji State Saturday and finished with a double-double (19 points-10 rebounds) Friday in a 72-64 win over Minnesota Crookston. On the weekend, she was 17 for 28 (60.7%) from the floor, swiped seven steals and dished out six assists.

NEAR TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: In the 72-64 win over University of Minnesota Crookston, the Beavers were just one rebound shy of having three players record double-doubles in the same game. Christina Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) notched 19 points and 10 rebounds while fellow junior Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) scored 10 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Carly Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) needed just one more rebound as she had nine boards with a game-high 20 points.

FAB FIVE: The Minot State starting five has been the same for 17-of-18 games during the 2013-14 season and they have shown their ability to carry the scoring load. However, the Beavers have all five starters score double-digits in the same game just twice this season, both were wins. This means that each starter can step up and anytime and become the scorer if the team needs them to be and the defense cannot just key on one or two players. Minot State is the only team in the NSIC to have five players average 10.0 or more points per game.

Minot State starting five points per game
Senior    Carly Boag             21.1 ppg
Junior     Christina Boag     13.1 ppg
Junior     Katie Hardy           11.8 ppg
Senior    Alisha Jones         11.0 ppg
Junior    Morgan Klose        10.3 ppg

COMING FOR THE TOP SPOT: From the beginning of the season, Minot State has been at the top of the Northern Sun in regards to assists per game as they currently average 20.2 assists per game as a team. Now that the second half of the season is underway, the Beavers are close to the top of all of NCAA Division II. MISU ranks second in the nation in assists per game, as they sit just 0.7 assists per game behind currently leader Nova Southeastern (20.9 assists per game).

GETTING TO THE PAINT: A key for Minot State's season-high 94 points against Bemidji State was their ability to get easy shots at the hoop. MISU had 40 points in the paint, the second-most points in the paint for the team during the conference schedule this season. In the win over University of Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 17, MISU scored a season-high 54 points in the paint.

LUCKY NUMBER 13: When Minot State gets to the free-throw line a minimum of 13 times per game, they have a perfect record of 10 wins, zero losses. Over the past weekend, the Beavers shot 28 and 27 free throws, resulting in two wins. When MISU's opponents get to the line 13 times or more in a game, they are just 4-13 overall.

GETTING CLOSER TO THE TOP: Carly Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) leads the Northern Sun in scoring so far this season, averaging 21.1 points per game. Boag has scored 380 points total 18 games into her senior year and current ranks third on the Minot State women's basketball all-time scoring list with 1,526 career points. On Dec. 14 against Minnesota Duluth, Boag passed MacKenzie Mack who now sits fourth on the All-Time Scoring list. Next up on Boag's quest is NAIA All-American Kayla Blom with 1,620 points.

MISU Women's Basketball All-Time Leaders
1,710    Kendra Meyer                2004-2008
1,620    Kayla Blom                   1998-2002
1,570    Carly Boag                    2010-Present
1,372    MacKenzie Mack          2006-2010
1,249    Jamie Lamoureux       1999-2003
 
SUPER SENIOR YEARS: Both Alisha Jones (Sr., G, Killeen, Texas) and Carly Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) have been major reasons for the success of the Beavers this season. The senior duo has put up great numbers, ranking them high in the conference ranks, but also in the national ranks.

Name                 Category                            Average              NSIC         NCAA DII
Alisha Jones    Assists Per Game           5.1 APG               1st            19th
Alisha Jones    3-pt Percentage               47.7 Percent       4th             5th
Carly Boag       Field Goal Percentage    61.0 Percent       1st             5th
Carly Boag       Points Per Game             21.1 PPG             1st             20th
Carly Boag       Steals Per Game             3.1 SPG               1st             16th

BY THE NUMBERS
10: Last season when the Beavers fell to Minnesota State 83-82, Ali Wilkinson went 10-of-10 from the free throw line to help the ranked Mavericks avoid an upset on the road.

32.3: Minot State had one of their worst shooting performances of the 2012-13 season last time they faced Concordia University, St. Paul. The Golden Eagles held MISU to just 32.3 percent from the floor.

56.1: Sisters Carly Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) and Christina Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) combined for scored 56.1 percent of Minot State's points over the past weekend. The duo combined for 93-of-166 points including a 54 point output in the win over Bemidji State.