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THIS WEEK: The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (9-3, 3-2 NSIC) is on the road this weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contests, facing off with Winona State (8-5, 3-3 NSIC) on Friday and Upper Iowa (1-11, 0-6 NSIC) on Saturday.  Both games are 6 p.m. tip-offs.

THE SERIES:  Friday marks the 65th meeting between SMSU and WSU in a series that first saw action in 1973-74.  The Mustangs are 42-22 against the Warriors all-time.  Saturday is the eighth contest between SMSU and UIU; the series dates back to the 2004-05 season.  The Mustangs are 5-2 versus the Peacocks all-time.  SMSU head coach Mike Jewett is 0-5 against WSU and 4-2 when facing UIU.

SMSU BASKETBALL ONLINE:  Live statistics for home games and live audio and video streaming for all women's basketball games are available at www.smsumustangs.com.

TUNE IT IN:  SMSU women's basketball can be heard all season long on 105.1 KARL FM.  Aaron Ziemer, the voice of the Mustangs, will again handle play-by-play.

LAST WEEKEND:  SMSU split a pair of conference games on the road, knocking off Minnesota State Moorhead 66-64 on Saturday but falling to Minnesota, Crookston 76-72 on Sunday.  On Saturday, Abby Kenealy and Megan Stadler combined for 29 points, and the Mustangs rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to edge the Dragons.  On Sunday, UMC hit four free throws in the game's final minute to break away from a 72-72 tie and defeat SMSU.  Heather Smith paced the Mustangs with 16 points.  Kenealy finished with 13 points, while Stadler and Laura Kramer also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kramer also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

THE COACHES:  Mike Jewett is in his fourth year at the helm of the SMSU women's basketball program.  Jewett owns a 42-56 record at SMSU.  Under his direction, the Mustangs have charted improved records each season, going from seven wins in 2006-07 to twice that in 2008-09. The sixth head coach in the program's 41-year history, Jewett is in seventh overall season as a head coach at the collegiate level, where he has an overall record of 104-76.  Prior to taking over at SMSU, Jewett had stints as an assistant coach at Augustana and St. Cloud State and also served as the head coach at Franklin (Ind.).
    Scott Ballard enters his sixth season as head coach at Winona State, owning a 77-75 record at the school.  Ballard is his 30th season coaching women's basketball and has earned more than 500 wins between his prep and collegiate career.  Prior to arriving at WSU, Ballard had stops as the head coach at Missouri Southern State and Central Missouri State.
    Mike Brown is in his second season at Upper Iowa after serving as interim head coach last season. He has a 6-33 record at the school.  Brown was an assistant with the UIU women's basketball program from 2005 to 2008.  Prior to coming to Upper Iowa, Brown served as the head women's basketball coach at Iowa Central Community College from 1999-2005, compiling a 115-78 record over that time.

MUSTANG NOTES:
• SMSU's victory at MSU Moorhead on Saturday was its first win in Moorhead since the 2005-06 season.
• Megan Stadler has led SMSU in assists every game this season (including sharing the lead).
• Heather Smith failed to score in double figures on Saturday for the first time since being inserted into the starting lineup on Dec. 5.
• Friday will be the 1,000th game in SMSU women's basketball history.

GOIN' STREAKING:  SMSU's six-game winning streak, which was snapped on Sunday by Minnesota, Crookston, was the longest for a Mustang team since the 2004-05 squad opened the season with seven consecutive wins.  The winning streak began with a win over Northern State on Dec. 11 and was spoiled on Jan. 3 at UMC.

LET'S GET IT STARTED:  The Mustangs' 9-3 start to the 2009-10 season is their best since the 2001-02 squad went 10-3 to begin its season.  With a win on Friday, SMSU would tie that team's start, while another victory on Saturday would give the Mustangs their best opening record since 2001-02 when SMSU had just three losses in its first 28 contests.

SMSU IN NSIC STATISTICS:  Megan Stadler ranks among the top-10 in  the NSIC in three categories in conference games only.  The senior is third in field goal percentage (55.0), fifth in assists (4.60 apg) and seventh in assist to turnover ration (1.92).  Abby Kenealy is also fifth in the NSIC in blocks with 1.20 per contest.  As a team, the Mustangs' best statistic is holding opponents to a 38.3 field goal percentage--good for second in the conference.

ABOUT SMSU:  The Mustangs enter this weekend's contests sporting a 9-3 record and 3-2 in conference play.  Abby Kenealy leads SMSU in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game.  Heather Smith and Tori Fink also average in double figures with 11.7 and 10.8 points per game respectively.  Laura Kramer continues to be the Mustangs' leading rebounder as she snags 7.1 rebound per outing.  The quarterback of the SMSU offense is Megan Stadler, who has led her team in assists every game this season.  The lone senior on the squad, Stadler has handed out 64 assists in 2009-10.

ABOUT WINONA STATE:  The Warriors enter Friday's tilt with an 8-5 record and 3-3 in the NSIC.  Ana Wurtz leads WSU with a 13.7 points per game average, while Michele McDonald is tops on the team with 6.6 rebounds per game.  The Warriors have won their last two at home and are coming off a road conference victory over Mary.

ABOUT UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks own a 1-11 overall record and are 1-6 in conference play heading into the weekend.  Kenya Howard is the team's top scoring threat, averaging just under 17 points per game.  She also leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per contest.  UIU's lone win came against Lewis (Ill.).
WE LIKE MIKE:  Head coach Mike Jewett recorded his 100th career victory on Saturday, Dec. 12, when the Mustangs downed Mary 62-58.  The fourth-year head coach used 38 wins at SMSU and another 62 from his stint at Franklin (Ind.) to reach the milestone.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:  SMSU enters its 41st year of women's basketball this season.  SMSU has played 999 games, compiling an all time record of 539-460.  SMSU has racked up 25 winning seasons with 10 coming in the last 15 years.  The 2000-01 squad won a school record 25 games and made an appearance at the NCAA Tournament.

PRESEASON COACHES' POLL:  The NSIC's 14 head coaches tabbed SMSU 11th in their annual preseason poll.  The Mustangs received 66 points in the poll.  Defending NCAA Division II national champion Minnesota State, Mankato received nine first-place votes and 176 points to take the top spot in the poll.  Concordia- St. Paul, Augustana and Winona State also received first-place votes and checked in at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5, respectively.
    1.     Minnesota State (9)    176
    2.     Concordia-St. Paul (2)    154
    3.    Augustana (2)    145
    4.     MSU Moorhead    142
    5.     Winona State (1)    140
    6.     Minnesota Duluth    131
    7.     Wayne State    111
    8.     St. Cloud State    99
    9.     Mary    96
    10.     Northern State    73
    11.     Southwest Minnesota State    66
    12.     Minnesota, Crookston    55
    13.     Bemidji State    37
    14.     Upper Iowa    32
    ( ) First Place Votes

STADLER IN THE RECORD BOOK:  Senior Megan Stadler (Sioux Falls, S.D.) began the season ranked ninth in career assists at SMSU, but the guard has quickly jumped a few spots throughout the season.  Just this past weekend, Stadler passed Erin Frye's mark of 366 career assists and now sits at No. 4 at SMSU with 371.
    1. 493    Michelle Bruns - 2001-05
    2. 425    Mary Roddel - 2000-04
    3. 401    Dani Coleman - 1996-00
    4. 371    Megan Stadler - 2005-10
    5. 366    Erin Frye - 1997-01
    6. 341    Lillie Brown - 1992-96
    7. 330    Abby Oakland - 2005-09

HOME, SWEET HOME:  The R/A Facility, the home of SMSU basketball, has been a tough place to play for opponents since opening its doors for the 1996-97 season.   In 14 seasons of playing in the Mustang home arena, SMSU women's basketball has compiled a record of 109-65.
    Year    Overall    NSIC    Non-Conf.
    1996-97    6-5    2-4    4-1
    1997-98    5-6    3-3    2-3
    1998-99    11-2    6-0    5-2     
    1999-00    11-3    7-2    4-1     
    2000-01    12-0    9-0    3-0
    2001-02    11-2    8-1    3-1
    2002-03    11-3    7-2    4-1
    2003-04    3-7    2-6    1-1     
    2004-05    10-4    5-2    5-2
    2005-06    5-9    3-4    2-5
    2006-07    5-8    3-6    2-2
    2007-08    4-8    2-5    2-2
    2008-09    9-6    3-6    5-0
    2009-10    6-1    2-0    4-1   
       Totals:    109-65    62-41    47-22

MUSTANGS ADD FIVE DURING EARLY SIGNING PERIOD:  Head  coach Mike Jewett announced on Nov. 11 the signing of four student athletes for the 2010-11 season.  Breanna Holleman from Hancock, Minn., Hannah Beeler from Indianola, Iowa, Jessie Watts from Omaha, Neb., Ellen Degler from Chaska, Minn., and Samantha Abens from Knoxville, Iowa, have all signed letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers at SMSU.