Women's Basketball | December 18, 2014

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Teams: Minot State vs. University of Mary | Series: U-Mary leads 46-29
Date: Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs. Michigan Tech | Series: First Meeting
Date: Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014 | Time: 4 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes the 2014 calendar year with a key Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup with rival University of Mary Friday and then tangles with ranked Michigan Tech in nonconference play Saturday. Game times are 6 p.m. and 4 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers come into the weekend at 6-4 on the season and are 1-3 in the Northern Sun. U-Mary is 5-6 overall, but is 3-2 in NSIC play. Michigan Tech sports a 7-0 overall record and is 4-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State is coached by Sheila Green Gerding. In her 20th season at the helm of the Beaver women's basketball program, Green Gerding has amassed an impressive 340-226 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 340 wins with the Beavers. 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. Rick Neumann is 41-27 in three seasons at U-Mary. The Huskies head coach is Kim Cameron who is just shy of 100 career wins, sporting a stellar 98-28 mark in her fifth season as head coach. She helped guide Michigan Tech to a national runner up finish in 2010-11, her first season.

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, You Tube, Instagram and Pinterest with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Minot State and the University of Mary were not ranked in any of the major polls, while Michigan Tech debuted at No. 20 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State ended a four-game losing streak with a split on the weekend, stopping Southwest Minnesota State 71-51 Saturday night. The Beavers fell 71-61 Friday to the University of Sioux Falls. Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) netted her and the team's first double-double this season with a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to Sioux Falls. In the win Saturday, MSU had four players in double figures as Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) topped the Beavers with 16 points and finished with seven boards. U-Mary finished the week with two wins, edging SMSU in overtime 76-70, while the Marauders rallied for a big deficit to defeat Sioux Falls 62-58 Saturday. Michigan Tech won a pair of games at home last week, including a big 68-55 win over then No. 8 Wayne State University Saturday. It was the Huskies second win over a top 25 team this year as they defeated Concordia St. Paul 65-54 in Houghton when CSP was No. 10 in the country.

OVERALL SERIES: The Beavers had a small two-game winning streak snapped at the University of Mary earlier in the season, dropping MSU to a 46-29 deficit in the all-time series between the two schools. MSU is 4-3 against U-Mary since becoming a member of NCAA Division II. MSU nearly pulled off a big comeback at Bismarck earlier in the year, falling just a point short in a 57-56 win. MSU trailed by double digits in the second half before making a run. Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) led MSU with 12 points and added seven rebounds in the first meeting. Speaking of first meetings, this is the first time MSU and Michigan Tech have squared off in NCAA Division II women's basketball.

NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary has been very good at McDowell Activities Center, going 5-1 on the season. But the Marauders have struggled after stepping off the U-Mary campus, going 0-4 in away games and 0-1 in a single neutral site game… Junior Brittney Dietz might be the best offensive player in the Northern Sun as she averages 19.2 points per game, second to Augustana College's Shaunteva Ashley… The Marauders have taken 242 3-pointers this season, nearly 80 more than its opponents and have hit 31 more than opponents… Dani Williams is one of the top free throw shooters around, hitting 22 of 24 on the season, good for a 91.4 clip… UM's 109 steals is third in the league and the Marauders are fourth in average at 9.9 per game… UMary leads the NSIC in blocked shots with 63 in 11 games.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: Michigan Tech is located in Houghton, Mich., roughly 691 along Highway 2 from Minot… The Huskies are no stranger to the NSIC having played three other league teams, topping Minnesota Duluth 58-58, Concordia-St. Paul 65-54 and Minnesota State 70-61… MT has done a good job of spreading around the wealth as five different players have led the team in scoring this season in just seven games… In fact, four Michigan Tech players are averaging double figures, paced by Brenna Heise's 13.1 per-game average… The Huskies have relied on basically two lineups this season and have played six players extensively. Kerry Gerdner and Kelli Guy have five and two starts between them, while Heise, Morgan Anderson, Danielle Blake and Jillian Ritchie have started all seven games… MT has missed just 24 free throws this season as a team, with five players hitting 75 percent of better. Guy has been perfect at the line, going 16-for-16 from the line… Blake and Ritchie have combined for 94 rebounds this season.

DOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Minot State finishes the season at the Minot State Dome where the Beavers have combined a 102-31 record over the past 10 seasons. Sioux Falls halted the Beavers eight-game home winning streak Friday, but the Beavers still have a 12-game winning streak going in nonconference games at the Dome dating back to the Beavers first season as a member of the NSIC.

HO HO HO-LY COW THAT'S A LOT OF REBOUNDS: Minot State senior Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) topped the 500 rebound mark in Friday's loss to Sioux Falls as she netted her first double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds. She has 517 for her career, just 36 behind Jenny Castro for sixth all time at MSU. Boag also moved to within 115 points of 1,000 for her career.

SCORING WONDERLAND: Katie Hardy (Jr., Fairview, N.D.) has been chasing some milestones of her own, as she reached 900 career points with a team-high 16 against Southwest Minnesota State Saturday. Hardy is looking to become the 12th MSU player to reach the milestone. She also has an outside shot at reaching 500 rebounds like Boag as she now has 379 in three-plus seasons.

IT'S THE GIVING SEASON: Senior Morgan Klose (G, Fairview, N.D.) paces the Beavers with 30 assists this season and is in 12 th overall in assists-to-turnover ratio with a solid 1.3 ratio. She has just 24 turnovers in 10 games while mainly running the point for MSU.

10 SAVANA'S LEAPING: Through 10 games, junior Savana Kingsbury (F, Omaha, Neb.) has leapt over competitors to the tune of 7.1 rebounds per game, seventh best in the conference. Kingsbury came into the season with 133 total rebounds in her career, but has 71 this season, nearly tripling her average for her career.

SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT: The University of Mary is the Beavers longest rival in terms of games played as the two teams will play the 75 game between the two schools, dating back to when both were members of the NAIA and the Dakota Athletic Conference. U-Mary enjoyed a nine-game winnings streak at one point, but the Beavers have won four of seven since both became NCAA Division II teams including Minot State's independent season.

BY THE NUMBERS
5: Minot State's rank in the NSIC in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to hit just 37.0 percent from the floor.
4: Minot State's rank in the conference in attendance this season, averaging 909 fans per game.
3: MSU's 3-point field goal defense, allowing just 27 percent on 3s.
2:  Shots put up last weekend in two minutes by MSU's newest player, Gemma Biasetto (So., F, Albuquerque, N.M.) as the soccer forward joined the team on Friday to help the Beavers as injuries have limited the squad's numbers this year.
1: Happy New Year from the Minot State Sports Information Department!