MINOT, N.D. – Minot State men's and women's basketball celebrated their seniors in style this past weekend on their home floor. Now they must get themselves prepared to face St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth come Friday and Saturday.
There's no way to sugarcoat that this weekend's matchup for the women is a huge test as St. Cloud is ranked No. 2 in the NSIC North Division and Minnesota Duluth is No. 1 and already clinched the NSIC regular-season title. The Beavers nearly upended St. Cloud State in December, falling 57-55 to the Huskies, so this weekend's game may be unpredictable.
The last time MSU went up against Minnesota Duluth was in early December, as well, and the game ended 77-54 in favor of Duluth. In this game the Beavers did a lot of things well, they shot the ball from three at 44% which is excellent, and 100% from the free-throw line. However, 22 turnovers turned into 20 points for Minnesota Duluth, an area in the box score that made a difference.
If the Beavers can get a hot shooting night from their snipers,
Kennedy Harris,
Kate Head, and
Natasha Elliott, and limit their turnovers, their odds of pulling off the upset go up through the roof.
The men split their games this past weekend and now sit at 10-12 on the season, and once again they will head into a weekend of games with a chance of getting back to .500. In their games versus both St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth back in December, the Beavers shot the ball efficiently. Senior guard
Cam'ron Dunfee hit his career high in three-pointers made against St. Cloud, knocking down 8-of-11. The team shot 54 percent from three and ended with a 96-74 win. If they can replicate a performance such as this one, they should handle the Huskies easily on Friday night.
Building confidence going into Saturday's matchup vs Minnesota Duluth can be a major X factor in MSU gutting out a win. When you look at the game recap from December, you would see that MSU did a ton of things right. They stuck with the three-seeded Duluth team throughout most of the game, shooting percentages were not too different, the turnover differential was 2 and they even shot better at the free-throw line, 89 percent to Minnesota Duluth's 73 percent. MSU may want to start this game on the right foot and avoid having to come from behind versus a team that does not make many mistakes.
