THIS WEEK: Minot State finishes off the 2015-16 NSIC regular season with a pair of home games against St. Cloud State Friday at 6 p.m. and Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 4 p.m.
RECORDS: MSU is 10-16 overall and is 7-13 in Northern Sun play With just two games to go, the Beavers could finish as high as fifth and as low as seventh as MSU is tied with U-Mary for fifth entering the weekend. SCSU has fourth place and a home playoff game wrapped up, but could catch Minnesota Crookston as the Huskies are two back with two to play. SCSU is 12-8 in NSIC games and 13-11 overall. UMD is a game back of MSU and U-Mary and is seventh overall with a 6-14 record in the NSIC North Division. The Bulldogs are 6-17 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 356-255 overall record. Green Gerding is the Beavers all-time wins leader and has all 356 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. SCSU's head coach is Lori Fish, who is in her eighth season with the Huskies and her 12th season overall as a collegiate coach. She is 183-149 overall and 123-97 at SCSU. She starred for then-NCAA Division II powerhouse South Dakota State, earning first team all-conference honors during her playing days. UMD's Mandy Pearson is in her first season with the Bulldogs after a successful stint with Saint Mary's, going 42-13 in her final two seasons. She has a 126-134 overall record in her head coaching career and is 6-18 at UMD. Pearson was the first Concordia-Moorhead player to score 1,000 career points and reach 500 career assists.
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 or the D2SIDA Central Region Poll. The NSIC was well represented in the first NCAA Division II Central Regional Poll as Winona State is ranked No. 4, while MSU Moorhead (7), Sioux Falls (8), Northern State (9) and Augustana University (10) were all in the top 10. The top eight teams advance to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
RECENT HISTORY: Minot State split a pair of games on the road last weekend, falling 78-62 at Minnesota Crookston Friday, but rebounded with a tough 66-58 win at Bemidji State.
Sarah Lester (Sr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) carried the load Friday with 15 points and six rebounds, while
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) earned another double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds in Saturday's win. SCSU dropped two games at home to Northern State and MSU Moorhead. Emma Konopasek and Betsy MacDonald scored 14 apiece in Friday's 75-61 loss to NSU, while Karissa LeCaptain just missed a double-double with 19 points and eight rebounds in a 74-50 loss to MSUM. UMD also struggled at home with the NSIC North's top two teams falling 76-56 Friday to MSUM and 82-62 Saturday against Northern State. Samantha Kozlowski scored 14 Friday to lead the Bulldogs, while Taylor Dillinger and Emma Boehm scored 11 each Saturday.
ALL-TIME AT A GLANCE: The Beavers had struggled all-time against St. Cloud State, winning just one time in eight games. The Beavers lone win over the Huskies came at home last season with MSU topped SCSU 81-64. The Beavers and Bulldogs have split eight games with neither team winning two in a row since the Beavers joined the NSIC.
LAST TIME OUT: It was a frustrating road trip for Minot State in January as MSU failed to get out of the 50s in scoring in both games, dropping a 71-55 game in Duluth and a hard-fought 58-51 decision in St. Cloud. Against the Bulldogs, MSU led at the halftime break, but managed just four points in the fourth quarter to take the loss.
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) paced the Beavers with 15, while Kenzie Kane and Allyson Harris scored 28 and 20 respectively for the Bulldogs. MSU carried a lead into half again Saturday only to go cold in the second half as SCSU rallied.
Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) paced the Beavers with 12 points, while Chelsea Nooker scored 23 in the win.
NOTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State started the season slow and is finishing it a tad slow as well as the Huskies lost their first three games before winning eight of their next nine and 12 of their next 16. But over the last five games, SCSU has just one win, a 72-60 win at Upper Iowa… Chelsea Nooker is doing a little bit of everything for St. Cloud State as she leads the team in scoring (13.3 points per game), and assists (99), steals (50) and blocks (27), while she is second on the team in rebounding (6.8 per game)… The Huskies are one of the top shooting teams from the free throw line in the league, hitting 223 out of 286, missing just 63 free throws over 24 games. But SCSU has shot 159 fewer free throws than its opponents and have been outscored by 100 points at the line… Karissa LeCaptain has come on strong as of late, rising her scoring average to 13.1 points per game, leading the Huskies six times in the last eight games… Betsy MacDonald has taken 156 of the team's 438 3-pointers, more than the next three SCSU players combined.
NOTING THE BULLDOGS: Minnesota Duluth has struggled since a win over Minot State in the middle of January. Since the 71-55 win, UMD has just one other win in seven contests, besting Upper Iowa 84-60 in early February… Scoring has been an issue for UMD all season as they average just 59.8 points per game… Allyson Harris has been solid for UMD scoring 13.3 points per game and pulling down 5.3 rebounds. She is just one rebounds behind Samantha Kozlowski for the team lead in that category… Kenzie Kane, Emma Boehm and Samantha Kozlowski have combined to hit 81 of the team's 103 3-pointers… Kenzie Kane has missed just five free throws on the season, shooting 91.8 percent from the line.
PLAYOFF WATCH: There are still quite a few playoff possibilities for Minot State as the season winds down. MSU knows it will be on the road to start the NSIC tournament as the Beavers cannot catch St. Cloud State for fourth. A pair of wins would clinch fifth for the Beavers as they have defeated the University of Mary twice head-to-head this year. If both U-Mary and MSU split, the same would hold true unless Minnesota Duluth were to win twice to force a three-way tie for fifth. The Beavers also could finish as low as seventh with two losses, a U-Mary split and a Duluth sweep of the weekend. The possible first-round opponents is varied as well. MSU will avoid nationally ranked Winona State, but could travel to the University of Sioux Falls, who received votes and is in second in the NSIC South, Augustana University, currently third in the South, or Wayne State, currently fourth.
SENIOR SEND OFF: The senior class of
Amanda Sansaver (G, Wolf Point, Mont.),
Savana Kingsbury (F, Omaha, Neb.) and
Sarah Lester (F, Frenchtown, Mont.) will go down in history as the first full NCAA Division II graduating class. All three spent their entire careers as DII student-athletes. All three have played in at least 100 games as Lester played in her 100 th contest Saturday at Bemidji State. The trio has combined to score 1,473 points, pull down 1,006 rebounds and dish out 410 assists in their combined career.
A TERRIFIC TRIOÂ LINE WORK: MSU has been consistently good at the free throw line all season, sitting as the fifth best shooting team in the league at 73.6 percent. MSU's 329 made free throws is good for a tie for seventh in the league.
Madison Wald (Fr., G, Minot, N.D.) leads MSU with a 94.1 percent clip, hitting 16 of 17 on the season.
Amanda Sansaver (Sr., G, Wolf Point, Mont.),
Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) and
Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) all are hitting better than 80 percent.
NO SWAT TEAM CALLED: The Beavers are the lowest team in the NSIC in blocked shots per game, swatting just 41 in 26 games. MSU would have to have nine more than Upper Iowa over the final two games to tie the Peacocks for 15th in the league.
Sarah Lester (Sr., F, Frenchtown, Mont.) is the only MSU player with double figures in blocked shots at 13 overall.
I'LL SEE YOUR BLOCKED SHOTS AND RAISE YOU A STEAL: MSU, however, is third in the league in steals per game at 9.1 and have 237 in 26 games. MSU is second in the NSIC in total steals, trailing just Augustana and has 12 more than U-Mary who is fourth in the NSIC, despite giving up two games to the Marauders.
Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) leads the Beavers with 47 on the season.
BY THE NUMBERS
1: MSU's team leader in disqualifications due to fouls on the season. MSU has five players who have fouled out one game, but no one has done it twice this year.
50.2: Percent shooting for senior
Savana Kingsbury (F, Omaha, Neb.) to lead the Beavers. Kingsbury is eighth overall in the NSIC in field goal percentage.
810: Minot State's average attendance at home games this season, sixth in the NSIC.
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- GO BEAVERS -
