Women's Basketball | January 08, 2015

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Teams: Minot State vs. Northern State | Series: NSU leads 20-4
Date: Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs. Minnesota State Moorhead | Series: MSU-M leads 15-5
Date: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 | Time: 4 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

THIS WEEK: Minot State plays its first two home games of the 2015 calendar year, taking on Northern State Friday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota State University Moorhead Saturday beginning at 4 p.m.

RECORDS: The Beavers are an even 7-7 overall and start the second half of the season with a 2-6 NSIC record. Northern State sports a lofty 13-1 overall record and is 7-1 in the NSIC. MSU-Moorhead begins the weekend at 6-6 overall and is 5-3 in NSIC play.

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 341-229 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. Northern State's head coach is Curt Fredrickson, who is one of the all-time winningest head coaches in NCAA DII history, as he has amassed a 760-279 record at NSU. He is in his 36 th season with the Wolves. MSU-M's head coach is Karla Nelson, who is in her 15th season overall and is 246-165. Between the three coaches there is 71 years of head coaching experience and 1,347 wins.

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. Friday's game is also being taped by MidCo Sports Network and will be aired Tuesday. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Instagram and Pinterest with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Northern State comes into the weekend as the highest ranked Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II Poll. The Wolves check in at No. 6 and are one of two NSIC teams ranked and one of five teams getting votes. MSU and MSU-M did not receive votes in the poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State split a pair of road games, trouncing Bemidji State 81-58 Friday before falling 59-45 at Minnesota Crookston. Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) had 20 points to lead all scorers in the win over Bemidji State, while Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) netted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the loss at Crookston. Northern State defeated Winona State in a tight game Friday, winning 50-48 behind Rachel Krogman's 22 points. It was as little easier Saturday as NSU defeated Upper Iowa 68-58 Saturday in which Krogman secured a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds. MSU-M held court at home over UIU and WSU thanks to a big night Friday by Heather Strese, who has 24 points and 14 rebounds in a 71-67 win over the Peacocks, while Megan Roehrich's 30-point outburst led the Dragons to an 80-54 blowout win over Winona State.

NOTING THE SERIES: MSU trails both Northern State and MSU-Moorhead by a substantial amount in the all-time series. The Beavers fell on the road at both teams earlier this season to drop to 4-20 overall with NSU and 5-15 vs. The Beavers had three in double figures in a 64-60 loss at MSU-M in December, led by Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) and Amanda Sansaver (Jr., G, Wolf Point, Mont.) who scored 12 each. Heather Strese led MSU-M with 17 as the Dragons outscored MSU 31-8 from the free-throw line. Klose was in double figures again the next night as MSU fell 61-49 at No. 5 NSU, scoring 11. Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) and Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) both scored 12 to pace the Beavers. Meagan Mutchler paced three Wolves in double figures with 16 points and seven rebounds.

NOTING THE WOLVES: Northern State University has been the highest ranked NSIC team in the polls after an early-season run where the Wolves won their first 10 games… Defense is the key for NSU as it is the best defensive team as far as scoring average in the NSIC, giving up just 48.4 points per game. The Wolves have limited teams to less than 50 points 10 times this season and have kept an opponent to under 40 points twice… Rachel Krogman is a double-double waiting to happen as she is the team's top scorer (15.0 ppg.) and rebounder (10.5 rpg.) this season. She has led the team in scoring nine times and rebounding 11 times… The Wolves have been tough on the glass with a plus-11.5 rebounding margin, limiting opponents to just 31.1 rebounds per game… Megan Mutchler and Sadie Stotesbery are both scoring at a 10.7 per-game rate.

NOTING THE DRAGONS: Minnesota State University Moorhead has rebounded from a slow start to win five of its last seven games and two in a row after sweeping Upper Iowa and Winona State last week… MSU-M was just 1-4 before topping both MSU and the University of Mary in the first full weekend of conference play… Meghan Roehrich and Heather Strese have been a strong 1-2 scoring punch as Roehrich leads the team with a 16.9 scoring average and Strese is right behind, netting 11.4 points per game… The Dragons have been deadly from the free-throw line, hitting 200 of 264 taken for a 75.8 percent shooting clip.

SHARP SHOOTING: Minot State moved up to third in the Northern Sun in field-goal percentage, hitting 45.3 percent of its shots from the floor this season. The Beavers are one of 11 NSIC teams with a positive scoring margin, coming into the weekend with a plus-4.2 scoring margin. Minot State has hit 352 field goals in 777 attempts this season. While the 45.3 percent is solid, it is considerably behind the all-time record of a staggering 50.5 set by the 2003-04 Beavers.

BOAG MOVES CLOSER TO EXCLUSIVE CLUB: After battling an injury early in the season, Minot State's Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) has put herself in a fine position to become the sixth member of the 1,000-point, 500-rebound club at Minot State. She would join her sister Carly Boag, who is the Beavers all-time leader in both scoring and rebounding, and would be the first player since Caroline Folven reached both in the 2010-11 season. Boag currently has the 500 rebounds, coming into the weekend with 545 for her career. She is now just seven rebounds behind Jenny Castro for sixth all time. Boag is also just 74 points away from 1,000 in her career.

STREAKING LIKE HALEY'S COMET: Minot State guard Alex Haley (So., Libertyville, Ill.) has been either up or down this season. Last week went about the way the season has for Haley. She is fourth on the team with a 9.9 points-per-game average and has put together a nice sophomore campaign, but hasn't been steady both nights. Last weekend, she was 8 for 9 from the floor and scored 20 points in the Beavers win over Bemidji State. The following night she went 2 for 9 from the floor and scored four points against Minnesota Crookston. Through the ups and down, however, she has maintained a solid shooting, dropping in 51.5 percent of her shots from the floor on the season.

HARDY CHASES 1,000 THROUGH THE PAIN: Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) has been a mainstay in the Beavers lineup, making 69 starts in 94 total games, trailing just fellow Fairview, N.D., standout Morgan Klose (Sr., G) in active player games played by one. It hasn't been without incident, however, as she sat out a season due to an injury and has played through a sore knee and now a broken bone in her hand to get to this point. But the senior is closing in on two major milestones. First, Hardy is just 78 points from reaching 1,000 in her career – a number that she should reach baring any further injuries. She is also just 104 rebounds from 500.

BIG THREE: Minot State's senior class of Morgan Klose (G, Fairview, Mont.), Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) and Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) are just five, six and seven games away from 100 games played in each of their careers. During that time, Hardy leads the way with 69 starts and has logged the most minutes, 2,546. The trio has combined for 2,579 points and 1,234 rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS
3: Double-doubles this season for the Beavers. With Christina Boag's (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) 13 points and 11 rebounds Saturday at Minnesota Crookston, MSU now has three double-doubles by two different players.

7: Games with 10 points or more for sophomore guard Diondra Denton (Great Falls, Mont.). Denton is the Beavers third leading scorer this season with a 10.7 average.

77: Points this season for junior Sarah Lester (G, Frenchtown, Mont.), two more than she had for her career coming into her third season. Lester is averaging 5.5 points per game, making 41 percent of her shots.