Women's Basketball | December 04, 2014

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Teams: Minot State at Minnesota State University-Moorhead | Series: MSUM leads14-5
Date: Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse
Teams: Minot State at Northern State | Series: NSU leads 19-4
Date: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014 | Time: 4 p.m. | Site: Wachs Arena

THIS WEEK: Minot State stays on the road for Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games, playing at Minnesota State University-Moorhead Friday (6 p.m.) and nationally-ranked Northern State Saturday (4 p.m.).

RECORDS: The Beavers come into the weekend at 5-1 on the season and are 0-1 in the Northern Sun. MSU-M is 1-4 overall and is 0-1 in NSIC games. Northern State sports a lofty 7-0 records and is a perfect 1-0 in NSIC games.

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 339-223 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 339 win 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. Karla Nelson is in her 15th season as the Dragons head coach, all winning seasons, going 241-163 overall. She was the fastest MSU Moorhead coach to reach 200 wins. While both Green Gerding's and Nelson's credentials are impressive, neither compare to what Kurt Fredrickson has done in 36 seasons at NSU. Fredrickson is one of just two DII women's coaches with 700 wins, reaching that in 2012. Fredrickson is 754-278 all time in his career, all at NSU.

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 continued to receive votes in the latest USA Today/Women's Basketball Coaches Poll, garnering two votes this week. Northern State is one of five NSIC teams to at least receive votes in the poll and is No. 12 overall. The Wolves are also ranked No. 20 overall in the WBB Division II Media Poll, Sponsored by D2SIDA.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State couldn't complete a second-half rally as the Beavers fell 57-56 at rival University of Mary in their lone contest last week in Bismarck, N.D. MSU fell behind by as many as 15 points in the second half, but cut it to one and had the ball with 12 seconds to play. UMary blocked a last second shot by the Beavers to preserve the win. The Beavers were paced by Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) who had 12 points, while Caitlin McLachlan (Fr., F, Strathfieldsaye, Australia) added a career-high 10 points off the bench. NSU destroyed MSU-Moorhead in the two team's first NSIC matchup, topping the Dragons by 21 points, 74-42.

OVERALL SERIES: The Beavers trail both teams in the all-time series, but has had some success recently. MSU trails MSU-M 18-5, but swept a pair of games last season over the Dragons. The Beavers have won just four times in 22 games against NSU, but is 2-2 against the Wolves since joining the NSIC.

NOTING THE DRAGONS: Minnesota State University-Moorhead is 1-4 overall this season mostly to inconsistent scoring. The Dragons have hit for more than 61 points in a game just once, a 78-67 win over San Francisco State… Meghan Roehrich has been the Dragons' leading scorer in four of the team's five games, including a 32-point outburst against San Fran… Three-point shooting has been a big issue for MSU-M as they have hit just 28 of 104 attempted for 26.9 percent on the season… Heather Strese is sixth overall in the league at 7.8 rebounds per game, including 12 offensive boards.

NOTING THE WOLVES: Northern State's defense has been suffocating so far this season, holding opponents to just 46.1 points per game, tops in the NSIC… A big reason is the Wolves have not allowed second opportunities after missed shots. Northern State is first in the league in rebounding margin, pulling down an average of 16.0 more boards than its opponents… Rachel Krogman does a little bit of everything for NSU as the senior is sixth in the league in scoring at 16.1 points per game and leads the league with a 9.9 rebounding average. Krogman has hit an impressive 42 of 70 field goals in 2014-15… NSU also leads the league in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, allowing just 35 3s in seven games, while allowing 143 attempts.

MEMBERSHIP HAS ITS PRIVILEGES: Minot State has two seniors nearing an exclusive club as both Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) and Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) have a chance at 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. If either player reaches both milestones, they would join six other Beavers to reach both. Boag has the best shot as she is just 14 rebounds shy of 500 and needs 177 points. Hardy is just 147 points from becoming lucky No. 13 in Beavers history to score at least 1,000 points in a career. She is a little further away on the glass, however, needing 140 to get to 500.  

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END: Minot State's five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday at the University of Mary, as did the Beavers' modest two-game streak over its rival. MSU still has a nine-game home winning streak that the team will put on the line next week with their NSIC home opener.

BEST BENCH: The Beavers bench play against the University of Mary sparked the comeback and nearly salvaged a win as MSU's reserves outscored U-Mary's 30-5. Leading the way were youngsters Caitlin McLachlan (Fr., F, Strathfieldsaye, Australia) and Morgan Hunter (So., G, Invercargill, New Zealand) as they combined for 18 points. McLachlan had a career-high 10 points in just 11 minutes and Hunter knocked down 4 of 5 free throws for eight points.

MAKING THEM COUNT: MSU's 44.8 percent shooting from the floor is fourth overall in the Northern Sun. The Beavers have hit 154-of-344 shots from the field this season. Caitlin McLachlan (Fr., F, Strathfieldsaye, Australia),  Morgan Hunter (So., G, Invercargill, New Zealand) and Sarah Lester (Jr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) have led the way for MSU, all shooting over 50 percent from the floor. McLachlan is tops on the team at 55.0, while Hunter is hitting at 54.5 percent and Lester an even 16 for 32.

MIRROR, MIRROR: Minot State has been better offensively in the first half – by a single point. The Beavers have scored 215 points in the first half and 214 points in the second for their 429 overall points. But, the Beavers are a plus-41 in the second half as they have held opponents to just 173 points overall.

BY THE NUMBERS
4: Assists per game for sophomore Alex Haley (G, Libertyville, Ill.), good for fourth in the league. Haley has 24 assists on the season and with just 12 turnovers, is fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio in the NSIC at 2.0.

32: Minutes per game in playing time averaged by Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.). Klose has steadily increased her minutes throughout her career, averaging 29.4 minutes per game last season.

73.1: Percent shooting from the free-throw line for Minot State. While the Beavers have been solid from the charity stripe, MSU is just seventh in the league as two teams – Upper Iowa and Winona State – are near 80 percent from the line.