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THIS WEEK: Minot State University is back at the Minot State Dome for the first of four straight home Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games. The Beavers play host to St. Cloud State Friday (6 p.m.) and Minnesota Duluth Saturday (4 p.m.).

RECORDS: MISU is 8-8 overall, 4-8 in the NSIC. SCSU is 12-4 overall and is 8-4 in NSIC play. UMD begins the weekend at 10-6 overall and is 7-5 in the NSIC.

COACHES CORNER: Sheila Green Gerding is in her 18th season as the Minot State head coach and sports a lofty 310-206 record. Lori Fish is the head coach at St. Cloud State and is 82-70 in five seasons with the Huskies. She is 144-123 overall in her career. Duluth's head coach is Annette Wiles, who is 79-51 in five seasons at UMD and 379-192 overall in 20 seasons.

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. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected. Friday's contest will be broadcast live on KMSU Channel 19 in Minot with MISU student Kyle Patterson providing play-by-play.

RANKINGS: Minot State, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State were not ranked in the latest USA Today/ESPN.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State lost three times last week, once at home, falling 70-58 to the University of Mary, before losing twice on the road to ranked teams, 51-44 at then No. 22 Wayne State and 94-66 at then No.13 Augustana College. The Huskies split a pair of tight ballgames at home, defeating Minnesota State 69-65 Friday and dropping a 66-62 decision to surging Concordia University, St. Paul. UMD couldn't hold off either team in a weekend sweep, falling 66-62 to CU and 77-71 vs. MSU.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State dropped road contest to both team early in the season and is now 0-1 against both SCSU and Minnesota Duluth.

NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State has slowed down a bit after racing out to an 11-1 record to start the season. The Huskies are 1-3 overall in their past four contests, all Northern Sun games, to come into the weekend at 12-4… SCSU is averaging 13.6 steals per game, accumulating 217 on the season, nearly 100 more than it has allowed… Through 16 games, Jessica Benson and Sam Price are separated by just four points scored as Benson leads the team with 240 on the year with Price at 236… SCSU hasn't strayed away from its starting lineup of Morgan Lof, Amanda Wagner, Nicole Anderson, Benson and Price this season… Price is one of the country's top free throw shooters as she has knocked down 75 of 81 taken for a blistering 92.6 percent. Over the past two seasons, she has missed just 16 free throws total (117-133)… The Huskies have closed well, outscoring its opponents 579-470 in the second half.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth is in its only losing streak of the year and it's just two games as the Bulldogs have not won or lost more than three in a row in 2012-13… Four different players have led UMD in scoring this season with Katrina Newman taking home top point honors nine times including three straight games… Newman leads the team with a 15.2 points per game average, but the Bulldogs have four players scoring at least eight points per game. Hannah Rutten is second at 14.4, Courtney Doucette is third at 10.3 and Alyssa Kerkhoff is third at 8.7 per game… Despite a respectable 65.5 per game scoring average, the Bulldogs are last in the conference in shooting percentage at 37.2…. UMD carries a plus-5.9 rebounding average, third best in the conference… Only St. Cloud State is better at stealing the ball in the Northern Sun than Duluth as the Bulldogs are one of three teams which average double figures in steals per game, swiping 11.38 on average.

MIRROR IMAGE: Minot State's overall team statistics reflect a team that is currently .500 overall. The Beavers have scored one point fewer than they have given up on the season, getting outscored 1,027-1,026. MISU has hit just 12 more shots over 16 games and taken just 16 more free throws, hitting 28 more. Minot State is getting out scored by 15 total points in the first half, but is 14 better than opponents in the second. The Beavers have three more assists, five more steals and 12 fewer turnovers, but have been outrebounded by 41 total boards. The only glaring statistic separating MISU and its opponents is 3-pointers, where the Beavers have given up 53 more triples.

REBOUNDING MACHINE: Junior Carly Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) has put together one of the best seasons in Minot State history as she is listed in the top 20 in the Northern Sun in just about every category. But it has been her rebounding over the past nine games that has been most impressive. She has risen to the top rebounder in the conference and No. 17 in the nation at 10.6 per game. In her last nine game, she has hit double figures seven times and pulled down 18 at Bemidji State (12/15) and 22 last weekend at Wayne State (1/18). Her average has gone from 7.6 in mid-December to its present number. During that run, not counting a nonconference game against Brandon (Manitoba) University where she played just 15 minutes, Boag has averaged 14.0 rebounds per game.

NO LONG RANGE GOAL: The Beavers have been above average shooting the basketball in 2012-13, hitting 40.2 percent of its shots overall, good for seventh in the 16-team conference. But the Beavers 3-point shooting hasn't been the reason. MISU is second to last in 3-point shooting percentage at 28.9 percent, just ahead of Bemidji State (27.1 percent). The Beavers have hit the second fewest 3s of anyone in the NSIC with 55 and their 190 attempts is almost fewer the Winona State's league-leading makes (161).

SACARRA AND LAUREN ARE LOGGERS: Senior guard Sacarra Molina (Hinsdale, Mont.) has averaged 33.19 minutes per contest, fifth overall in the NSIC. She has 531 minutes total this season. Lauren Safranski (Sr., G, Burnsville, Minn.) is 27th overall at 28.47 minutes per game.

SHOOTING FOR 1,000: Minot State has average 960 fans to its nine home games so far this season, good for fifth in the Northern Sun by average. The Beavers would need to average 1,182 fans over two games this weekend to get an even 1,000 averaging, making them one of five teams to average at least 1,000. Overall on the season, the Beavers have played in front of 16,409 fans for a 1,026 average. Overall in the Northern Sun, 128,142 fans have watched their respective women's basketball teams play this season.

EVERYONE'S MAKING FREE ONES: It doesn't pay to foul in the Northern Sun as 12 teams are hitting at least 70 percent of their free throws. Winona State leads the conference with a 79.0 percentage, hitting 252-319 total taken this year. Minot State is above average with a 73.3 percent clip entering the weekend. MISU has hit 225 free throws in 307 attempts. The Beavers are one of 10 teams to take at least 300 free throws this year.