THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes off a four-game Northern Sun road trip with games at Wayne State College Saturday (3 p.m.) and Augustana University Sunday (1 p.m.).

RECORDS: MSU is 8-12 overall and is currently tied two other teams for fifth place in the NSIC North Division standings at 5-9. WSC and Augie are in a tight race to hold on to a home playoff spot in the NSIC South Division as the Wildcats are in fourth, a game behind AU with an 8-6 record. WSC is 11-8 overall. Augustana is 9-5 in the NSIC South and 15-5 overall.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State is coached by Sheila Green Gerding. In her 21st season at the helm of the Beaver women's basketball program, Green Gerding has amassed an impressive 354-251 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 354 wins at MSU. 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. Chris Kielsmeier is in his eighth season at Wayne State College and has built the Wildcats into a perennial NCAA Division II power. He is 183-54 at the school and is an impressive 362-98 at WSC and Howard Payne University. While both Green Gerding and Kielsmeier have impressive win totals, they both trail legendary Dave Krauth at Augustana University. Krauth is 545-243 in 26 seasons with the Vikings.

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.

RANKINGS: None of the three team involved were ranked in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 poll but Augustana University did receive votes in the  D2SIDA Central Region Poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State couldn't get the offense going last week in a pair of road losses at Minnesota Duluth (71-55) and St. Cloud State (58-51) despite carrying leads well into the second half. The Beavers were up by a point heading into the fourth quarter at UMD Friday, but were outscored 21-4 in the final stanza. Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) led the Beavers with 15 points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists. Madison Wald (Fr., G, Minot, N.D.) hit all four free throws on her way to 10 points. MSU's defense did enough Saturday, but the Beavers couldn't hold on to a five-point halftime lead in the loss at St. Cloud State. It was a 14-7 third quarter deficit that did in MSU this time. Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) paced the Beavers off the bench with 12 points, three steals, three rebounds and an assist. Kingsbury pulled down 12 rebounds and finished with eight points in the loss. WSC fell twice last week mainly due to low scoring as well, dropping a 55-49 contest at Upper Iowa Friday and failed to get into the 50s again Saturday in a 63-49 loss at No. 10 Winona State. Anna Martensen had a double-double Friday with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while no Wildcat reached double figures Saturday. Augie split both teams on the road at WSU and UIU. Lynsey Prosser scored 10 points in a 73-49 loss at Winona Friday, while Sophie Kenney poured in 18 in a 84-61 win at Upper Iowa.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers trail both schools all time having lost all three matchups with Wayne State College in the two team's short time together in the NSIC.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State dropped both games at the MSU Dome last season in January, falling 81-71 Friday against No. 23 WSC and 82-65 Saturday against Augie. MSU led the Wildcats early in the second half and the game remained close throughout, before WSC pulled away late. Ashton Yossi led all scorers with 22 points for Wayne State, while Katie hardy paced four MSU players in double figures with 17. Saturday's final score didn't reflect the competitive nature of the contest as MSU cut a 10-point halftime deficit to just two with 12 minutes to play, but the Vikings closed the game with a 31-18 run. Shaunteva Ashley and Logan O'Farrell scored 18 points each in the win. Alex Haley (Jr., G, Libertyville, Ill.) and Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) hit for 17 and 14 points respectively and Kingsbury had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss for MSU.

NOTING THE WILDCATS: Wayne State College is 9-1 at home this season and sports a lofty 95-8 record at Rice Auditorium over the past seven seasons… Paige Ballinger has done a little bit of everything for the Wildcats as she leads the team with a 16.0 scoring average and has 36 of the teams 96 blocks. She is also tied for the team lead in  rebounding at 6.6 per game… Sadie Murren has just under half of the team's assists, dishing out 102 in 19 games… Wayne State has five players averaging 6.8 points or more per game… Maggie Schulte is second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg.) and assists (32) and is third in rebounding (118) and steals (20)… Wayne State struggled some around Christmas, falling three straight times just before the break and lost four of its first six NSIC games. The team rebounded to win six straight in January before having that streak snapped Friday at Upper Iowa.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana University started the season 8-1 including a double overtime win over Minnesota State in December, but is 7-4 since… The Vikings will not shy away from the 3 as they have cast up 573 from beyond the arc this year, but have hit only 171 for a 29.8 percent clip… Nicole Kerkhoff and Logan O'Farrell have been the Vikings biggest threats all season and not much separates the two as Kerkhoff is averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, while O'Farrell chips in with 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game… Sophie Kenney is also averaging double figures with a 10.6 scoring average, but has also dished the ball around for scoring chances as well, coming into the weekend with 92 assists to lead the team… The Vikings have jumped out on opponents this season, outscoring teams 364-271 in the first quarter for its biggest margin by far… Sydney Rome has hit 19 of 21 free throws for 90.5 percent and leads four players over 80 percent who have shot at least 15 free throws.

A DIFFERENT PLAYER EVERY NIGHT: MSU has been led in scoring by six different players this season and has been paced by five different individuals in the past seven games. Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) has come off the bench to pace MSU four times in the past six games, while Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) – MSU's leading scorer overall – has led the team just six times all season.

500-500 CLUB: Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) moved closer to the 500-500 club this week as she is now just 28 rebounds shy of 500 in her career. She leads the team with 233 points and 157 rebounds this season and has 528 points in her career.

KARI-ING THE BENCH SCORING: Redshirt freshman Kari Clements (G, Trevor, Wis.) has pushed her season scoring average to 9.0 per game and has done so mainly coming off the bench. She has one start on the season, but has consistently been Sheila Green Gerding's first sub. In her first season on the court, Clements is third on the team in scoring and leads MSU with 38 steals. She also has 26 assists and 43 rebounds. In her last nine games, she has hit double figures three times and scored at least eight points seven times. She has averaged 11.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals in her last five games

SWEET CLEMENTS-TIME    

Opponent	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals
MSU Moorhead	13	3	0	1
Upper Iowa	16	0	2	2
Winona State	6	3	1	1
Minnesota Duluth	8	2	2	4
St. Cloud State	12	3	1	3

DOUBLE FIGURES FOR WALD: MSU freshman guard Maddie Wald (G, Minot, N.D.) reached double figures for the second time in her young career, scoring 10 points in Friday's loss at Minnesota Duluth. Wald has 93 points on the season, averaging 4.7 per game and is third on the team with 22 steals. She is nearly perfect at the free throw line, missing just once in 15 trips to the stripe.

BY THE NUMBERS

2: Games where MSU has scored 70 or more points since the Christmas break. The Beavers have struggled to score in 2016 and have averaged just 52.7 points per game since dropping 80 on Bemidji State in the first game in January.

88: Field goals made by senior Savana Kingsbury (F, Omaha, Neb.) to lead the team. Kingsbury is the team's leader in field goal percentage as well at 49.7 percent.

586: Points for Alex Haley (Jr., G, Libertyville, Ill.) in her career. The junior has played games in four seasons, suffering an injury early on in her freshman year and was granted a medical redshirt. She will look to become the 14th member of the 1,000 point club next season.