Women's Basketball | February 18, 2015

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Teams: Minot State at St. Cloud State | Series: SCSU leads 5-1
Date: Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Halenbeck Hall
Teams: Minot State at Minnesota Duluth | Series: Series tied at 3
Date: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 | Time: 4 p.m. | Site: Romano Gymnasium

THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes the regular season with a road trip through Minnesota, playing at St. Cloud State Friday (6 p.m.) and finishing up NSIC play at Minnesota Duluth Saturday (4 p.m.)  

RECORDS: Minot State upped its overall record to 11-15 last week with a sweep at home and improved to 6-14 overall in the Northern Sun. SCSU is 14-10 overall and 10-10 in the Northern Sun, sitting in the fourth and final home playoff spot in the NSIC North Division. UMD comes into the weekend at 11-13 overall and 9-11 in the NSIC. The Bulldogs are a game back of SCSU.

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 343-235 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 342 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. Lori Fish is in her sixth season at St. Cloud State and is a solid 152-125 during her career. UMD's Annette Wiles is in her fifth season with the school and is nearing milestones at UMD with a 94-71 record and overall as she approaches 400 career wins, sporting a 394-212 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. Friday's game Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Instagram and Pinterest with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: None of the three teams receive votes in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State earned its first sweep of a conference weekend, taking down Minnesota Crookston 75-69 Friday and Bemidji State 77-50 Saturday. The Beavers rallied in Friday behind 15 points by Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia), outscoring UMC 44-35 in the second half as MSU did not turn the ball over for the final 20 minutes. In Saturday's win, MSU again had a solid second half, outscoring BSU 45-23 after the break. Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) and Savana Kingsbury (Jr., F, Omaha, Neb.) both scored in double figures with 19 and 15 respectively in the win. SCSU earned a signature road win Friday as Betsy MacDonald's 26 points led the Huskies to a 61-59 win over Northern State in front of 3,680 stunned fans at Aberdeen, S.D. SCSU couldn't keep the momentum going, however, as MSU-Moorhead rolled over SCSU Saturday 89-56. UMD struggled in two games against the same teams, falling 68-59 at MSUM and 79-59 at NSU. Jessica Newman had 14 points and six rebounds against the Dragons and 13 points, five rebounds at NSU.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State topped St. Cloud State at home earlier in the season for the first win in the series for the Beavers. MSU trails that all-time mark 5-1. The Beavers and UMD are tied at 3-3 all-time.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State's Betsy Macdonald was nearly unstoppable against Northern State as she finished with 10 field goals, four 3-pointers and was 2 for 2 from the free-throw line on her way to 26 points in an upset win last weekend. No other SCSU play scored more than eight… SCSU's opponents have shot 459 free throws this season, 105 more than the Huskies have taken… SCSU is a plus-4.2 on turnover margin, forcing 17.8 miscues by its opponents… Lexy Petermann has been solid for the Huskies as she averages 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, both tops on the team… Chelsea Nooker has 44 steals to lead the team… MacDonald and Nooker are both shooting over 80 percent from the line, converting on 47 of 55 and 36 of 44 respectively… Nichole Wittman has blocked 10 shots, second best on the team off the bench an in just 22.0 minutes per game.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth has three players averaging over 30 minutes a game, paced by Jessica Newman's 31.3 per outing. No other Bulldog player averages more than 19.2 per game… Newman and Danielle Flood have been very good as of late, with one or the other leading the team in scoring in six of the past eight games… Taylor Meyer has been very effective all season, averaging 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. She has hit 109-135 free throws as well… UMD has been outscored in both the first and second halves, but have given up 95 more points in the second than the first half overall… The Bulldogs are allowing teams to shoot 45.4 percent from the field and 34.4 percent on 3pointers this season… The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by 100 from the free throw line, hitting 387 free throws. They have taken 140 more than opponents… Anna Monke has more offensive rebounds (44) than defensive boards (37).

KATIE DOESN'T MISS: Minot State senior Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, Mont.) has been to the free throw line 229 times in her career. She has missed just 31 times. Hardy is an 88.5 percent career shooter from the line and is on par for that this year, going 38 of 45. The most free throws she has missed in a season is 10, her freshman year out of 54 tries and last season – in 87 trips to the line. As a sophomore, Hardy went 39 for 43 from the line.

BROOMS, TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: This past weekend sweep of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State marked the first NSIC weekend sweep for the Beavers this year and was the first time this season where the men and women won all four games.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Savana Kingsbury (Jr., F, Omaha, Neb.) earned her second career double-double Saturday with 15 points and 11 rebounds. She is one of four players with at least one double-double on the team. Kingsbury has been steadily improving all year and has upped her scoring average 6.2 per game, nearly the same as her 6.4 rebound-per-game average. She also has 37 assists, 22 steals and 11 blocks for the Beavers.

TWENTY 10: Minot State reached 10 wins on Friday defeating Minnesota Duluth, marking the 20th straight season under head coach Sheila Green Gerding where the Beavers reached double figures in wins. Green Gerding has 345 wins at Minot State in her 20 seasons as head coach.

BACK IN THE BLACK: After games two weeks ago, MSU's scoring average fell below its defensive average for the first time all season. But, with the pair of wins last week, MSU is back on the plus side, scoring 1,698 points compared to 1,691 allowed for a plus-0.3 scoring margin. MSU also closed its second-half scoring gap with big nights after halftime in both games. MSU has allowed justeight more points than its scored (872-864) after the break.

BY THE NUMBERS
0: Minot State turnovers in the second half and just eight overall in the win over Minnesota Crookston. MSU had been averaging 14.2 miscues per game entering the game.

4: Players who have scored at least 200 points this season with one other close. Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) leads the way with 276, followed by Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) with 248, Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) with 245 and Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) with 239. Senior Morgan Klose (G, Fairview, Mont.) should be able to make it five as she has 196 heading into the weekend.

57: Rebounds on the offensive glass for sophomore Diondra Denton (G, Great Falls, Mont.), tops on the team. She has eight more offensive rebounds than defensive boards this season as a part of her 4.2 rebounds per game.