Women's Basketball | February 23, 2015

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Teams: Minot State at Minnesota State | Series: Minnesota State leads 3-0
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Taylor Center

THIS WEEK: Minot State begins the 2015 postseason with a trip to Minnesota State in Mankato, Minn., starting at 6 p.m. The Beavers are the No. 7 seed from the NSIC North, while Minnesota State is the No. 2 seed in the NSIC South. The winner advances to the quarterfinals in Sioux Falls, S.D., playing the winner of the Minnesota Crookston/Concordia-St. Paul game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pentagon.

RECORDS: Minot State split a pair of games to finish the regular season, finishing with a 12-16 overall record and 7-15 NSIC mark. Minnesota State also split a pair of games last week to finish at 19-8 overall and 16-6 in the NSIC.

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 346-238 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 346 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. MSU's head coach is Emilee Thiesse, who has a stellar 45-14 record in her second season as head coach.

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: Minot State was not ranked in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II Poll. Minnesota State received votes in the national poll and was ranked No. 7 in the first NCAA Central Region rankings.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State ended with a split of a pair of NSIC games on the road last weekend to end the Beavers NSIC schedule. Minot State fell by a point at St. Cloud State Friday, missing at the buzzer for a potential game winner, but came back for a 77-56 win at Minnesota Duluth, the Beavers most complete game on the road this season. Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) paced the Beavers both nights as she scored 17 and 20 respectively. Junior guard Amanda Sansaver (Wolf Point, Mont.) responded in only her second start of the season Saturday with 12 points and nine assists for the Beavers. The Mavericks split as well last week on the road to end the regular season. MSU fell 74-62 at the University of Sioux Falls Friday, but rebounded for a 83-64 win over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday. Britney Scherber came off the bench to score 15 to lead the Mavericks on Friday, while Lexie Ulfers was too much to handle for the Mustangs Saturday as she scored 21.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State has yet to take a game from its NSIC South rival, going 0-3 in its short existence in the Northern Sun.

NOTING THE MAVERICKS: Minnesota State was ranked as the No. 7 team in the first NCAA Central Region poll, with the top eight teams advancing to the NCAA Regional Tournament…  Free throws have fallen in games MSU has played. The Mavericks have hit 410-550 for 74.5 percent, while their opponents have hit 422-550 for 76.7 percent… Balance has been a key for the Mavericks as they have six players averaging 20 or more minutes and those six are averaging 7.2 points per game or better… Aubrey  Davis has done a little bit of everything for Mankato, leading the team in scoring at 13.6 per game and assists with 127. She also has 120 rebounds and is shooting 43.5 percent on 3s, making 51 – second only to Ashley Olson on the team… Lexie Ulfers is hitting 51.7 percent of her shots on her way to a 12.2 points-per-game average… Sammie Delzotto has missed just 15 free throws all season for a 80.5 percent clip at the line and is tied with Ulfers at 12.2 points per game… Ashley Olson has swiped 47 steals, second to Davis on the team and has scored 9.0 points per game, knocking down 55 triples.

ONE OR TWO, HERE OR THERE: Minot State's 66-65 loss at St. Cloud State Friday was the second one-point loss in conference play this season for MSU. It was also the sixth loss in NSIC play less than five points. In those five losses, Minot State and its opponents were only separated by a combined 16 points.

HALEY FINISHES STRONG: Minot State sophomore guard Alex Haley (Libertyville, Ill.) led the Beavers in scoring in the team's final two games and was the leading scorer in six of the final nine games this season. She upped her scoring average to a team-leading 11.2 points per game, scoring 313 points this year. She is hitting 50.2 percent from the field, tops on the team and tough to do from the guard position. Haley also has 74 assists this season.

PAINFUL SENIOR SEASONS: Minot State's three seniors Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia), Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) and Morgan Klose (G, Fairview, N.D.) have all missed games due to injury this season. Boag sat out  four games in the preseason due to an injury, while Hardy has missed just one game, but has been hobbled by a broken bone in her hand that she has played with nearly the entire season. Klose is the latest to go down, injuring her leg in Friday's loss. She is questionable for Wednesday. The trio has 725 points and 390 rebounds on the season.

HITTING THE BOARDS: Minot State's Savana Kingsbury (Jr., F, Omaha, Neb.) and Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) have continued to hit the glass for the Beavers all season. Kingsbury leads MSU with 178 rebounds and is second to Boag in rebounding average. Denton is fourth on the team in rebounding average but is in the top 10 in the NSIC in offensive rebounds per game, pulling down 62 on the season.
SAN-SAVER THE MOMENT: Junior Amanda Sansaver (G, Wolf Point, Mont.) was thrust into a starting role Saturday as Klose went down with an injury, and Sansaver did her best to take advantage of the opportunity. She played all 40 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing out a career-high nine assists. She is third on the team in assists at 66 and only has 46 turnovers for a solid assist-to-turnover ratio. She is averaging 4.3 points per game.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING: Minot State's Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) is playing in her final games as a Beaver and has put together a stellar career all across the board. Boag reached 1,000 career points and topped the 500 rebound mark this year, sitting at 1,075 points and 632 rebounds, both in the team's top 10. She also has 200 assists, 200 steals and is four blocks away from 100, a rare combination of three distinctly different stats.

THE LAST HARDY WATCH OF HER CAREER: Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) reached 1,000 career points earlier this year and we have tracked her rebounds throughout the season. While an injury has put that milestone a little out of reach for a single game, if the Beavers make a run in the NSIC postseason, Hardy has a chance to become only the seventh player in school history for 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, sitting 35 rebounds short coming into the tournament at 465 for her career. She is just seven shot of a career-high in rebounds for a season.

BY THE NUMBERS
7: Free throws missed by senior Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) during her senior season. Hardy is an 84.4 percent free throw shooter this year and is an 86.5 percent shooter in her career. She has missed just 31 free throws in four years.

13: Blocked shots needed for Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) to tie her sister, Carly Boag's, school record for blocks in a career. Christina Boag has 94 total.

146: Three-pointers made by senior Morgan Klose (G, Fairview, N.D.). While here status is unknown for Wednesday, Klose is just four 3s away from 150 in her career.