Women's Basketball | December 12, 2014

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Teams: Minot State vs. University of Sioux Falls | Series: USF leads 4-2
Date: Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 | Time: 6 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs. Southwest Minnesota State | Series: MSU leads 2-1
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014 | Time: 4 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

THIS WEEK: Minot State returns to the MSU Dome for its first two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference home games, taking on the University of Sioux Falls Friday (6 p.m.) and Southwest Minnesota State Saturday (4 p.m.).

RECORDS: The Beavers come into the weekend at 5-3 on the season and are 0-3 in the Northern Sun. Sioux Falls is off to a hot start with a 7-0 record and a perfect 3-0 mark in conference play, while SMSU is just the opposite at 0-7 and 0-3.

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 339-225 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 339 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. Travis Traphagen is the head coach at the University of Sioux Falls and is 105-52 in his sixth season. SMSU's head coach is Allison Kruger, who is 21-94 in five 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, You Tube Instagram and Pinterest with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected.

RANKINGS: Minot State fell out of the receiving votes category in the latest USA Today/Women's Basketball Coaches Poll, as the Beavers had two votes in each of the past two polls. They were replaced by Sioux Falls this week, which finished in the receiving votes category.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State had trouble on the road in two different types of games. MSU couldn't hold a lead in a 64-60 loss at Minnesota State University-Moorhead Friday and couldn't complete a comeback against No. 5 ranked Northern State Saturday, falling 61-49. Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) had a game-high 12 points Friday to lead the Beavers and added 11 points, four assists and three rebounds Saturday. Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) scored a season-high 12 points to pace the Beavers against the Wolves Saturday in Aberdeen. Sioux Falls cruised in two NSIC wins last week at home, clubbing Upper Iowa 86-56 behind Marie Malloy's career-high 20 points and smashed Winona State 82-65 Saturday. SMSU fell Friday 79-55 against WSU, but pushed Upper Iowa before losing 82-75 Saturday. Lauren Hedlund finished with 21 points in the loss Saturday.

OVERALL SERIES: The Beavers swept the season series with the two teams last year, winning 68-67 over USF and 76-66 over SMSU in the second-to-last weekend of the year. The wins closed the gap with Sioux Falls as the Beavers trail the series 4-2, while MSU has the edge, 2-1, over SMSU. Former Minot State great Carly Boag used the two games – in which she averaged 33.5 points per game – to become the school's all-time leading scorer during the win over SMSU. Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) was a little overshadowed by Boag, but had a great weekend, averaging 17.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in the pair of wins.

NOTING THE COUGARS: The University of Sioux Falls has been very good on offense, as the Cougars' 82.2 points-per-game average would indicate. But USF has been especially tough in NSIC games. Through three games, the Cougars are leading the conference with an 86.3 average. USF is also second in the league in scoring defense in league games at 57 per contest… The Cougars have gone with the same starting lineup all season, but their second leading scorer is Jaicee Ulmer who has come off the bench to average 11.6 points per game… USF has five players averaging double figures, paced by Taylor Varsho's 12.0 points per game… Varsho has done it all for the Cougars this season, leading the team in scoring (12.0), rebounds (7.1), assists (4.1) and steals (1.3)… The Cougars have been aggressive as they have 13 more fouls than their opponents and have had four players foul of games.

NOTING THE MUSTANGS: Southwest Minnesota State has struggled to stop teams from scoring so far this season, giving up an average of 83.6 points per game… SMSU has only one away date so far this season, traveling to Nebraska-Kearney, where they were not treated too well by the home squad as Kearney rolled to a 105-66 win three weeks ago… Five different players have led the Mustangs in scoring in a game this season, while freshman Lauren Hedlund has been the leading scorer three times… Hedlund paces SMSU in both points (12.7) and rebounds (6.3) despite coming off the bench in all seven games. She has only logged an average of 20.6 minutes total, scoring 89 points in 144 minutes... Annessa Rosch is second on the team in scoring at 12.4 per game and is the team leader in both assists (23) and steals (14).

A DECADE OF DOMINANCE: Minot State comes into the weekend sporting an eight-game home winning streak and has won 10 of its past 11 games at the Minot State Dome dating back to last season. But it has been more than just a one or two year run for the Beavers at home as MSU is 101-30 in the past 10 seasons at the Dome. The Beavers were 15-0 at home in its final season in the NAIA in 2010-11 and are 26-8 at home since joining NCAA Division II. Minot State is 3-0 so far this season.

DOWNTOWN STILL OPEN: The Beavers have continued to shoot the ball effectively this season from beyond the arc. MSU is tied for second in the league with Wayne State – behind Winona State – in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.1 per game. The Beavers, however, have taken just 113 triples this season, 12th in the NSIC. MSU has taken 153 fewer than league leader in attempts Augustana College.

MILESTONE WATCH CONTINUES: Minot State seniors Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) and Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) continue to chase the 1,000 point, 500 rebound club. Boag will most likely pull down her 500 th rebound this weekend as she sits at 497 for her career. With just 56 rebounds, Boag would move into fifth place all-time as she trails Jenny Castro for sixth. She also needs just 159 points to become the12th member of the 1,000-point club. Or… it might be the 13 th member as Hardy is just 129 away from 1,000 points. Hardy will have to up her current 5.1 rebounding average to get to 500, however, as she is 132 from 500.

KNOCKING DOWN SHOTS: Junior guard Amanda Sansaver (Wolf Point, Mont.) netted a career-high 12 points in Friday game at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, nearly scoring half of what she did all of last year in the one game. Sansaver has surpassed her total from last season by five points (30-25) through just eight games and is halfway to her career mark of 61 points as a freshman. She is the team's leader in free throws, hitting 6 of 7.

GIVE TO US, NOT TO THEM: Both Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) and Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) have a plus-nine assists to turnover margin as both have 25 assists on the season compared to just 16 turnovers. Klose has been a solid passer throughout her career as she finished with 89 assists last season and has 209 in 89 games. The duo sit in 10 th place overall in the NSIC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.6.

BY THE NUMBERS
20: Offensive rebounds pulled down by sophomore Diondra Denton (G, Great Falls, Mont.). Denton has more offensive rebounds (20) than defensive boards (16). She is 10th overall in the NSIC in offensive rebounds.

27: Percent shooting from beyond the arc for the Beavers eight opponents this season. The Beavers have hit two more 3s, but have taken 39 fewer than their opponents.

122: Turnovers total for the Beavers. MSU has averaged 15.3 this season and have forced just 117 miscues by the opposition.