THIS WEEKEND - The Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team (3-23, 3-19 NSIC) enters the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Sanford Health Tournament as the No. 8 seed in the south and will travel to play the No. 1 seed in the North division Northern State Wolves in the first-round. Tip-off from Wachs Arean in Aberdeen, S.D. is set for 6 p.m. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will take place on Feb. 28-March 3 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
RADIO - The game this weekend will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Anthony Rohlik handling play-by-play.
ABOUT NORTHERN STATE - The Wolves, picked to finish first in the NSIC North and third overall, will enter the NSIC Sanford Health tournament with a 22-6 overall record and finished 16-6 in the NSIC. NSU suffered the loss in the lone game against SMSU this season as the Mustangs edged out a 53-52 win that snapped the Wolves five-game winning streak. The Wolves are led by Rachel Krogman who averages 16.3 ppg (scored 16 points vs SMSU earlier this season) while shooting 50 percent from the floor and pulls down 10.8 rpg. Paige Waytashek averages 7.5 ppg while shooting 33 percent from behind the arc. Curt Fredrickson is in his 36th season as head coach at Northern State.
NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY - Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul will meet for the 48th time on Friday with CU holding a 31-16 advantage in a series that started back in the 1974-75 season. The Golden Bears hold an 11-8 record all-time in games played in R/A Facility. SMSU suffered an 82-46 loss earlier this season in St. Paul, Minn., and have lost six straight in the series. SMSU's last win came Dec. 10, 2011 in Marshall. SMSU head coach
Allison Kruger is 1-8 all-time versus Concordia-St. Paul. A listing of the series is located on page 20.
EARLIER THIS SEASON VS NORTHERN STATE - Last time SMSU played NSU was on Jan. 16, 2015 and
Annessa Rosch led the Mustangs with 22 points in a 53-52 upset win over the Wolves who were ranked No. 4 in the WBCA/USA Today Top 25 that week. SMSU finished shooting 34 percent from the floor in the win and in the process defeated a ranked team since defeating NO. 17 Augustana in 2010. The Mustangs held the high-powered Wolves to 52 points—15 below their average—and the lowest points that the Mustangs allowed this season.Rosch led the Mustangs in scoring and also recorded six assists and five steals.
Emilee Duske and
Lauren Hedlund both tallied nine points while grabbing eight and six rebounds, respectfully. See page 21 for box score.
SMSU & NSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State have met twice in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament in a series that is tied at 1-1. The last meeting came just a season ago with SMSU suffering a 73-45 loss at Northern State.
SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
Southwest Minnesota State is 8-10 all-time in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. It is the third straight season that all 16 teams qualify for the tournament after the conference expanded before the 2012-13 season. SMSU has lost eight consecutive NSIC tournament games, with its last win coming in the 2002-03 season over Wayne State, 67-54. This season marks the third consecutive season that SMSU is the eighth seed in the South taking on the one seed from the North.
