MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State will open the new calender year with a conference road trip to play at Winona State on Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon game at Upper Iowa beginning at 4 p.m.

SMSU Quick Hits
- Senior forward, Lauren Hedlund, became the 19th member of the SMSU women's basketball 1,000 career points club earlier this season against UIU
- Head Coach, Tom Webb, enters his second season at the helm to the SMSU women's basketball program after spending eight seasons at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.
- SMSU gets set to face Winona State for a second time this season after a late comeback attempt fell short back in December
- SMSU will also face Upper Iowa for a second time this season after a hot shooting night gave the Mustangs their first conference win of the season over the Peacocks back in December
- SMSU has outscored opponents 205-186 in the fourth quarter of games so far this season
- Taylor Holicky's six blocked shots at USF made her the first SMSU player since 2007 to have at least five blocked shots in a single game

Winona State: Game Preview
    WSU Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 22-9, 15-7 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 11-1, 7-1 NSIC
- The Warriors are currently in the midst of a season-long six game winning streak
- WSU concluded the first half of the calendar season with at least 11 wins for a third consecutive season
- The Warriors rallied from a 16-point second quarter deficit at Minnesota Crookston in last Saturday's win
- Hannah McGlone recorded doubles-doubles in both games last weekend and averaged 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and leads NSIC in rebounding (10.7) while ranking sixth in scoring (15.2)
- Kayla Schaefer led all players with a season-high 20 points at Minnesota Crookston last weekend
- Rachel Novotny led the team in points (15) and rebounds (13) at Bemidji and has at least 10 rebounds in three of last four games
    Series History
- SMSU leads the all-time series, 44-36
- Winona State has won seven straight games over SMSU dating back to the 2014-15 season
- SMSU is 39-34 all-time in conference games against WSU
- The Mustangs are 16-24 all-time at Winona State and have lost the last 11 road games to WSU with their last road win coming in the 2004-05 season
- WSU won both of last season's matchups including a 74-65 win over SMSU in Marshall in the last meeting on Jan. 6, 2017
- The Warriors held off multiple second half scoring bursts from SMSU in a 68-66 win back on Dec. 2 in the R/A Facility
- Winona State led by as many as 22 midway through the third quarter in the first meeting back in December
- The Mustangs put together a 10-0 stretch to get within four points just inside of five minutes to play in the game back in Dec.
    Game Coverage
- SMSU vs WSU will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik and Anthony Rohlik handling the play-by-play for SMSU basketball
- The game can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com

Upper Iowa: Game Preview
    UIU Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 4-23, 4-18 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 2-12, 0-8 NSIC
- Upper Iowa lost a pair of games on the road over the weekend last week at Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston
- The Peacocks held a pair of double-digit leads in their loss to the Beavers, but a cold fourth quarter gave way to the eight-point loss
- UIU struggled from behind the arc in the two games converting only 25.5 percent of their three-point attempts last weekend
- Blair Klostermann averaged 10.5 points per game, while Bekka Pierson and Natalie Dinius both chipped in 8.5 points per game last week
- Savannah Domeyer and Angelica De Paulo both grabbed 6 rebounds per game to lead UIU's attack on the glass
    Series History
- Upper Iowa leads the all-time series with SMSU, 13-10
- The Mustangs are 3-7 all-time on the road at UIU and snapped a five-game, road losing streak against Upper Iowa last December
- SMSU split last season's games against Upper Iowa with a road win and a home loss
- SMSU defeated Upper Iowa, 79-70 on Dec. 2, 2016 for the first win at SMSU for Head Coach, Tom Webb
- SMSU poured in 10 made three pointers as a team in a 75-55 win over Upper Iowa back on Dec. 1
- Caleigh Rodning led the Mustangs with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the Mustangs December win over UIU
    Game Coverage
- SMSU vs UIU will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik and Anthony Rohlik handling the play-by-play for SMSU basketball
- The game can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com

4th Quarter Queens
- The Mustangs have outscored opponents 205-186 (+24) in the fourth quarter of games this season, its only positive scoring differential of any quarter
- SMSU went 7 of 13 (54 percent) from the field in the fourth quarter against Augustana last Saturday
- The Mustangs went 8 of 16 overall and 5 of 9 (56 percent) from deep in the fourth quarter against Wayne State, outscoring the Wildcats 21-18 in the final ten minutes

Fresh Faces
- SMSU has used four new starting lineups so far this season with at least three true freshman players listed in all four starting lineup combinations
- Meleah Reinhart and Erin Baxter have started all 11 games so far this season for SMSU
- Five different players have led the Mustangs in scoring so far this season including true freshman players in five of those instances

Shooting Stroke
- SMSU has lived and died by the long ball at times this season, attempting 20 plus three pointers in six of its last seven games
- The Mustangs have made 10 or more three pointers in three different games this season
- The Mustangs have nine or more made three pointers in four of their previous six games
- Meleah Reinhart and Sarah Buysse combined to go 7 of 9 (78 percent) from behind the arc against St. Cloud State
- Sadie Stleter went 5 of 9 on three pointers against Augustana
- SMSU scored a season-high 77 points in its loss last Saturday to Augustana

SMSU Individual Player Notes
#1 Reinhart Notes: Ranks 26th in the NSIC with 11.1 ppg ... led the Mustangs in scoring with 18 points after knocking down 4 of 4 three point attempts against St. Cloud State (12/9) ... has started all 11 games for SMSU so far this season … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#3 Stelter Notes: Went 5 of 9 on three point attempts for career high 15 points vs Augustana (12/30) ... has led the Mustangs in assists in five games this season ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#5 Rodning Notes: Had a season high 19 points at UMD ... posted her third double-double with 18 points and 11 boards vs UIU (12/1) … named to NSIC All-Freshman team in 2016-17 ... posted eight straight double-doubles last season
#10 Bonestroo Notes: Has appeared in nine games for SMSU ... had team high three assists in career debut vs MWSU (11/10) … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#11 Bohler Notes: Has played in 60 career games ... signed with SMSU during the late signing period on April 16, 2014
#12 Wenning Notes: Has appeared in 14 career games ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 13, 2013
#14 E. Buysse Notes: Connected on 3 of 4 three point attempts against Waldorf (11/18) ... appeared in 19 games as a true freshman ... scored career high 11 points at MSU last season (2/17)
#20 Teske Notes: Went 3 of 5 shooting overall against UIU (12/1) ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#21 S. Buysse Notes: Had a career high 22 points against UMD (12/8), her first 20 point game of her career ... Led SMSU in scoring with 18 points against Waldorf (11/18) … has appeared in 54 career games with 45 starts ... averaged 7.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg in 2016-17
#23 Hutton Notes: Made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … had five rebounds vs FHSU … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#24 Baxter Notes: Led SMSU with 16 points against Augustana (12/30) ... made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … has reached double figures in scoring in six games this season … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#33 Hedlund Notes: Had seven points to become 19th member of SMSU 1,000 career points club against Upper Iowa (12/1) ... ranks 10th in school history in career rebounds (627) ... ranked fourth in the NSIC in rebounding last season with 8.6 rpg (conf. only)
#35 Akoi Notes: Has team leading 22 blocks on the season ... made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … had four blocks in her first career game vs MWSU (11/10) … Signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#45 Holicky Notes: Became first player since 2007 to have five or more blocks with six blocks at USF (11/25) ... Started all 27 games in 2016-17 … Eighth in SMSU history with 4.4 defensive rebounds per game for her career

SMSU Home and Away
- Below is a breakdown of the Mustangs' stats in home games and road/ neutral games during the 2017-18 season
                            W-L     FG%     3-FG%     FT%     REB     PTS     TO
Home:                 2-4       .379     .324         .735       41.7     67.2     16.8
Away/ Neutral:   0-5        .335     .247        .722       32.8     54.2     20.8