ST. CLOUD, Minn. – It's been a few seasons, but the Minot State women's basketball team is back in the postseason and ready to make a run in the NSIC Tournament.

Riding high after a dramatic comeback win Saturday, the Beavers (10-21 overall) head to St. Cloud State to take on the Huskies in the first round of the NSIC Tournament on Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

Minot State heads into the first-round game as the 10^th seed and the Huskies (17-9) are the seventh seed in the tournament. The winner advances to the NSIC quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will play second-seeded Mary on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Minot State comes in with momentum after erasing a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, on the road, to beat Sioux Falls 65-64 on Saturday.
St. Cloud State comes in having dropped back-to-back games, 64-63 at Minnesota Duluth and 57-51 at Concordia, St. Paul.

The match-up is definitely an interesting one between the Beavers and Huskies who met twice during the regular season with St. Cloud State winning both meetings. And both times, Minot State scored 54 points in two very different games as the Huskies won 75-54 in Minnesota way back on December 2 then Beavers nearly got revenge, falling 57-54 on Super Bowl Sunday a little more than two weeks ago at the MSU Dome.

Six-foot-1 sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki has been the one consistent force in the two wins for the Huskies who Minot State needs to contain as she is averaging 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per game against the Beavers. Not a surprise, though, as Sawicki leads the Huskies in rebounding (7.0 rpg) and is second in scoring (11.0 ppg).

Challenging the Huskies sophomore forward will be Minot State's 6-0 sophomore forward Lorelei McIver who in the two meetings averaged 12 points and 6 rebounds a game for the Beavers, and who also leads Minot State in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and is third in scoring (6.7 ppg).

While that match-up will be one of the game's highlights, another key will be defense for the Beavers who forced just 7 turnovers and allowed the Huskies to shoot 52 percent in the teams' December meeting.

Two weeks ago, Minot State was much stingier as St. Cloud State committed 12 turnovers and shot just 33.8 percent from the field, giving the Beavers a shot at victory.

Wednesday night's game will be the Beavers first postseason contest since the 2019-20 season and Minot State's first playoff meeting with the Huskies, who last season were the No. 2 seed from the NSIC North Division and advanced to the NSIC quarterfinals where St. Cloud State lost to Southwest Minnesota State.

While the Huskies won both meetings this year, and hold a 17-5 edge in the all-time series, the Beavers do have some fond memories of a recent trip to St. Cloud State as Minot State scored a 60-58 win over the Huskies on their home court on a buzzer-beater layup by Natasha Elliott just over a year ago on Feb. 10, 2023.