THIS WEEK: Minot State makes its longest road trip of the year, traveling to Winona State Friday for a 6 p.m. matchup and to Upper Iowa Saturday, set to start at 4 p.m.

RECORDS: MSU is 3-17 overall comes into the weekend with a 1-13 NSIC record. Winona State is one of the top teams in the league and region with a 16-4 overall record and an 11-3 mark in conference play. Upper Iowa comes into the weekend with a 2-16 overall record and is 2-12 in NSIC play.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State is coached by Sheila Green Gerding. In her 22nd season at the helm of the Beaver women's basketball program, Green Gerding has amassed an impressive 360-274 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 360 wins at MSU. WSU's head coach Scott Ballard is closing in on 500 wins in his career as he is 479-276 overall. With the Warriors, Ballard is 210-117 in his 12th season. Micha Thompson took over the Upper Iowa position this season and is 2-16 so far in her career.

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: Winona State is ranked No. 22 in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 poll and is the eighth ranked team D2SIDA Media Poll Central Region Poll. Minot State and Upper Iowa are not ranked in either poll.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State continues to battle injuries as well as opposing NSIC teams, falling twice at home last weekend to Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. MSU fell 83-57 against BSU and 69-57 against UMC. Minot State got a solid weekend out of guards Kari Clements and Madison Wald. Clements scored a team-high 14 points in the loss to BSU Friday, while Wald finished with 19 Saturday against UMC. Gabby Wilkinson played her most extensive minutes since becoming eligible at the break and paced MSU in rebounding both nights, finishing with 13 total on the weekend. Winona State had a rare home split, topping Wayne State College Friday 62-41, but falling 80-63 Saturday against Augustana University. Saturday was the first home loss of the season for the Warriors. Jenny Tuttle scored 15 and 18 points respectively to lead WSU in scoring both nights. Upper Iowa fell to both teams, losing 65-49 Friday against Augie and 73-64 Saturday against WSC. Blair Klostermann had 34 or the team's 64 Saturday to continue a solid season for UIU and led the team with 15 Friday.

ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers enjoy success against both programs since joining the NSIC five seasons ago. MSU is tied at two games apiece against Winona with the first three of the series being separated by just eight total points. The Beavers have yet to lose to Upper Iowa including a NSIC playoff win in 2013-14 and a double overtime thriller in Minot last season.

LAST TIME OUT: Minot State split two games at home last season, outlasting Upper Iowa 71-69 Friday in double overtime before running out of gas in a 98-57 loss to WSU Saturday in January of last year all at the Dome. Against the Peacocks, MSU saw a late lead go away as UIU rallied to force overtime. After both finished with nine in the first OT, MSU outscored UIU 11-9 in the second overtime. Kari Clements gave MSU a 71-68 lead with seven second to play and scored a team-high 16 off the bench. Aleesha Cleaver finished with 21 in the loss for UIU. It didn't take long for WSU to make a statement on Saturday, racing out to leads of 22-12 after one quarter, 42-22 at half and 72-34 after three quarters against a tired MSU bunch. Alex Haley was the only MSU player in double figures with 10. Connor Nagle hit six 3-pointers to scored 20 in the win for the Warriors.

NOTING THE WARRIORS: Winona State went on a lengthy winning streak after losing its season opener, winning nine straight and 13 of 14… Since that time, WSU has dropped two of its last five, but the losses came at the hands of top NSIC teams Sioux Falls (52-51 at USF) and Augustana University (80-63 at home)… Tara Roelofs, Jenny Tuttle and Kayla Timmerman are all averaging double figures at 13.5, 11.9 and 11.3 points per game respectively… The trio, along with Hannah McGlone and Liz Evenocheck have all but three starts between them… McGlone has been a steady two-way player for WSU, averaging 9.5 poitns and 8.1 rebounds, the rebounding numbers best on the team.

NOTING THE PEACOCKS: Upper Iowa has struggled to score all season, averaging 59.4 points per game and has just nine games where the Peacocks have reached 60 points or more… Blair Klostermann has been the lone offensive bright spot, averaging 18.9 points per game, nine points better than No. 2 Carly Pagel… Klostermann, Pagel and Haley Martin have 274 or the games 629 total rebounds… While she has only shot 13 free throws this season, Ashley Rosenstiel hasn't missed one yet… Upper Iowa's assist-to-turnover ratio is low at 0.6 coming into the weekend with 286 turnovers compared to just 162 assists, but guard Sam Ofstad has bucked that trend and has 59 assists compared to 54 turnovers.

MASSIVE MINUTES: MSU guards Kari Clements and Madison Wald logged 80 total minutes last week each, playing all 40 in both games. Clements has moved up to fifth in the league in minutes played, averaging 33.6 per game. Wald, who has only started nine of 19 games, is up to 25.7 per game after the weekend. The duo is No. 1 and 3 in scoring for Minot State per game, averaging 11.0 and 9.1 per outing respectively.

800 CLUB: Freshman Haley Hildenbrand continues to lead the Beavers from the free throw line, hitting 22 of 25 on the season for an impressive average of 88.0. She is one of three MSU players hitting 80 percent or better as Kori Eurich is right behind her at 85.7 percent (36-42) and Kari Clements comes in at 85.5 percent (53-62).

PAINFUL SECOND HALF: Minot State had three players who have at least one start and four total players who have seen minutes out of uniform this past weekend nursing injuries. Second-leading scorer Mariah Payne, leading rebounder Kristal Flowers, Diondra Denton and Shyla Carr all sat out. The foursome has combined for 440 points and 239 rebounds so far this season.

BY THE NUMBERS

11: Blocks for Haley Hildenbrand to lead the Beavers. Hildenbrand is the only Minot State player in double figures in blocks.
 
36: Steals for Kari Clements to sit in eighth in the NSIC. Clements has led MSU in each of the past two seasons in steals and has 86 for her career.

55.6: Percent from beyond the arc for Gabby Wilkinson. While she has shot just nine 3-pointers, Wilkinson has hit five already in just nine games.