THIS WEEK: Minot State will face rival University of Mary twice this week, making the rare Wednesday-Friday home-and-home series beginning with a 7 p.m. home tilt Wednesday at the MSU Dome and traveling to Bismarck, N.D., for a 6 p.m. Friday game.
RECORDS: MSU is 4-6 overall and 1-3 in Northern Sun play. The Marauders come into the week with a 7-5 overall mark and a 1-3 record in NSIC games. Both teams are tied for sixth in the NSIC North Division early in the season.
COACHES CORNER: Minot State head coach
Sheila Green Gerding reached the 350 wins mark in Saturday's win over Northern State. In her 21st season at the helm of the Beaver women's basketball program, Green Gerding has amassed an impressive 350-245 overall record. She is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 350 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 in his fourth season at U-Mary and sports a 46-40 overall record all with the Marauders
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 – with Leif Bakken serving as the play-by-play announcer – and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.
SWEEPS WEEK: Fans of both Minot State and the University of Mary will have plenty of opportunities to watch their teams as local and regional television will carry both games. The women's only game Wednesday will be carried live by KX Net Sports on channel 591 (cable), 13.3 (over the air – Minot) and 12.3 (over the air – Bismarck). MidCo Sports Network will feature the Wednesday game as the "Game of the Week" airing Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 9 p.m. The Friday game – along with the men's game – will be broadcast on NBC North Dakota Sports Network MeTV channel. MeTV is available on channel 595 on Midcontinent and 109 on SRT along with 10.3 Minot and 5.3 Bismarck.
RANKINGS: Neither Minot State or the University of Mary was ranked in the latest WBCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll or the D2SIDA Media Central Region Media Poll.
RECENT HISTORY: Minot State had trouble stopping opponents on its first road trip within the conference last week, falling 87-54 at the University of Sioux Falls and 79-69 at Southwest Minnesota State. It was MSU's first loss at SMSU since joining the league.
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) had a solid overall weekend, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds against USF and then setting a career high with 20 points and added nine rebounds in Saturday's loss at SMSU.
Alex Haley (Jr., G, Libertyville, Ill.) also set a career high in scoring, hitting for 25 points at SMSU.
Sarah Lester (Sr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) scored 10 of her 12 points in the second quarter for the Beavers against USF. U-Mary split two games at SMSU and USF, topping the Mustangs in double overtime, 80-77 and falling just short against the Cougars 69-67. Brittney Dietz was her normal dominate self on the weekend, finishing with 24.0 scoring average, nailing 26 against SMSU.
ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers trail the all-time series 47-29 dating back to both team's days as members of the NDCAC, DAC-10 and Dakota Athletic Conference. MSU and U-Mary are tied 4-4 since the Beavers moved to NCAA Division II and are 3-3 as members of the Northern Sun. The home team has won just once each since the rivalry was renewed in 2011-12.
LAST TIME OUT: Minot State fell for the second time on the season in the final seconds to its rival Dec. 19 68-66 at the MSU Dome. The Beavers rallied from a double figure deficit and had two chances at the tie or a win with less than 17 seconds, but couldn't convert. The Beavers were paced by 17 points from
Christina Boag, while
Morgan Klose and
Sarah Lester (Sr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) scored 11 each. Brittney Dietz led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 8 of 10 free throws.
NOTING THE MARAUDERS: The University of Mary has been Brittney Dietz and a bunch of other people so far this season as Dietz is the only Marauder to average double figures and has led U-Mary in scoring in 11 of 12 games… While the scoring has been top heavy, U-Mary does have five other players averaging 5.4 or more points per game… Hannah Larson leads the team with an 8.2 rebounding average and is third on the team with a 7.8 scoring average… The Marauders are outscoring its opponents 219-152 in the fourth quarter on the season… Dietz has done a little bit of everything for UM as she leads the conference in scoring at 21.6 points per game and is fourth in minutes in the league at 33.6 per game. She is second on her team in rebounding (5.9), assists (2.7) and steals (1.3)… The Marauders have cast up 296 3-pointers through 12 games, averaging 24.7 3s shot per game… Larson also leads the team in blocked shots, nearly swatting half of the Marauders total of 54 as she has 25 on the season… U-Mary has held its opponents to just 54.5 points per game all season good for second in the NSIC, holding five teams to less than 50 and two – both Oglala Lakota – to less than 40 total points… Part of that is teams are hitting just 21.8 from beyond the arc this year against UM.
DOUBLE CAREER NIGHTS: Minot State University had two players earn career highs in points Saturday as
Alex Haley (Jr., G, Libertyville, Ill.) scored 25 and
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) netted 20. The duo was a combined 17 for 31 from the field and 11 for 12 from the free throw line. Both Haley and Kingsbury had upped their respective career marks twice this season.
TAKE WHAT'S FREE: MSU has five players hitting at least 80 percent from the free throw line so far this season.
Shyla Carr (Fr., G, Spokane, Wash.) has hit all four she has taken, while
Madison Wald (Fr., G, Minot, N.D.) started the year a perfect 8 for 8 and is now 10 for 11 overall.
Morgan Hunter (Jr., G, Invercargill, New Zealand) is 8 for 9 and
Amanda Sansaver (Sr., G, Wolf Point, Mont.) is 10 for 12.
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) rounds out the top five for MSU with a 20 for 25 start to the season. Overall, the five have gone 52 for 61 and have helped Minot State to a 72.6 overall average from the line
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NO BLOCK PARTY SCHEDULED: Minot State is tied for last in the conference at just 1.5 blocks per game, swatting a league-low 15 total. There are eight players in the Northern Sun with more blocked shots than the Beavers have as a team. MSU is paced by
Sarah Lester's (Sr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) five on the season.
HALF A GRAND:
Alex Haley (Jr., G, Libertyville, Ill.) is just a point shy of 500 for her career as she enters the weekend with 499 points. Haley has increased her scoring average in each of her three full seasons. After an injury cut her true freshman season short at just two games, she average 1.8 points per game in limited time during her redshirt freshman season. Last year as a sophomore she scored 327 points for an 11.3 average. This year, she has 123 points over 10 games for a 12.3 average. At her current pace, she would have a solid chance at scoring 1,000 career points late next season.
HALF A CENTURY: Minot State seniors
Amanda Sansaver (G, Wolf Point, Mont.) and
Savana Kingsbury (F, Omaha, Neb.) should reach 100 career games early in the 2016 calendar year as both are sitting at 94 total games. Sansaver has 18 starts in 94 total games, playing 1,494 minutes, while Kingsbury has 41 starts and has logged 1,851 minutes, including a team-high 29.5 per game this season.
BY THE NUMBERS1: Wins for Minot State over the University of Mary at home since moving to NCAA Division II. The Beavers are just 1-3 at the MSU Dome against their rivals, but are 3-1 in Bismarck.
1.8:
Amanda Sansaver's (Sr., G, Wolf Point, Mont.) assist-to-turnover ratio, tops on the team. She would be tied for seventh in the NSIC, but is five assists short of the minimum.
6: MSU players with at least 10 steals on the season, paced by
Kari Clements' (Fr., G, Trevor, Wis.) team-leading 15.
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- GO BEAVERS -
