MARSHALL, Minn.- The Southwest Minnesota State University ­women's basketball team (1-6, 1-2) continues early NSIC action as it hosts the University of Minnesota Duluth (3-3, 2-1) on Friday night at 6 p.m. The Mustangs will then play St. Cloud State (5-2, 3-0) on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m.     

BROADCAST INFO:
•This weekend's games will broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik handling the play-by-play for SMSU basketball for the fourth straight season
•The game can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com.          

SERIES HISTORY (Minnesota Duluth):
•SMSU has won the previous two meetings
•Minnesota Duluth leads the series 54-18
•UMD is 24-8 all-time in games played in Marshall
•SMSU won 87-75 in the only game last year in Duluth, Minn.
•SMSU won the first meeting 56-54 back in the 1976-77 season
•Complete game-by-game listing of the series is located on page 18     

SERIES HISTORY (St. Cloud State):
•St. Cloud State leads series 36-16
•Teams first met during 1969-70 season
•SCSU is 15-9 in games played in Marshall
•SCSU has won nine straight (last SMSU win was 66-44 in St. Cloud, 2/12/10)
•Complete game-by-game listing of the series is located on page 20     

GAME DAY STORYLINES: 
•SMSU snapped an 11 game losing skid that dated back to last season with a 79-70 win at Upper Iowa last Friday night
•The Mustangs win over Upper Iowa was the first for new head coach Tom Webb and the first of the season for SMSU
•SMSU has held three opponents to less than 10 points in a quarter this year (William Jewell, Upper Iowa, Winona State)
•SMSU scored a season high 79 points in its win over Upper Iowa last weekend
•The Mustangs also achieved a season high 26 made field goals and shot a season high 42 percent from the field vs UIU     

SMSU HEAD COACH TOM WEBB:
•Tom Webb is in his first season as the head coach with a 1-6 overall record thus far
•Webb is the eighth head coach in the program's history
• Prior to SMSU, coach Webb spent eight seasons (2008-16) as the head coach at Cameron University (Okla.) compiling a record of 91-123.
• Webb was recognized as the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year in 2014-15     

ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE:
•SMSU is 1-6 on the season following last Saturday's loss at Winona State
•SMSU has gotten to the free throw line 20 or more times in four games this year
•Lauren Hedlund leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 10.6 ppg and 9.0 rpg
•Taylor Holicky is averaging 7.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg  
•Taylor Silva has dished out a team-high 25 assists (3.6 apg)
•Abby Connell has connected on a team-leading 14 3-pointers
•Hedlund (10.3 rpg) and Holicky (10.0 rpg) are third and fourth respectively in the conference in rebounding (NSIC games only)     

ABOUT MINNESOTA DULUTH:
•UMD (3-3, 2-1) has won back-to-back NSIC games after losing its conference opener to SCSU
•UMD dropped its first road NSIC game of the year and lost its first three conference road games to start last season
•UMD ranks third in the NSIC in field goal percentage (.438) and first in three point shooting (.453)
•Sammy Kozlowski is tied for ninth in the NSIC (conference games only) in scoring with 16.0 ppg
•Kozlowski is also tied for sixth in the NSIC in assists with 4.67 apg
•Head coach Mandy Pearson is in her second season as the Bulldogs' head coach after coaching UMD to a 7-19 record in her first season last year          

ABOUT ST. CLOUD STATE:
•SCSU is 5-2 (3-0 NSIC) this season and has won four straight including wins over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State last weekend
• SCSU has an average final point margin of plus 10.7 points per game
•SCSU is tied for first in the NSIC with 90.0 points per game and alone in first with a 48 percent field goal percentage (NSIC games only)
•Betsey MacDonald leads the conference with 26.3 ppg (NSIC games only)
•Chelsea Nooker is third in the conference with 20.3 points per game (NSIC games only)
•Head coach Lori Fish is in her ninth season as the Huskies' head coach
•SCSU finished last season 13-14 (12-10 NSIC)     

LAURIE BOHLER NOTES:
•Has played in seven games
•Scored nine points with one 3-pointer
•Has appeared in 40 career games     

EMILY BUYSSE NOTES:
•Made her Mustangs' debut versus Sioux Falls on 11/26/16
•Has appeared in three games averaging 22.3 minutes per game
•Younger sister of teammate Sarah Buysse     

SARAH BUYSSE NOTES:
•Had career high 5 assists against UIU (12/2/16)
•Made season debut against USF and led team in scoring with 14 points
•Started all 29 games as a true freshman in 2015-16
•Was fourth on the team in scoring last season with 6.9 points per game
•Older sister of teammate Emily Buysse     

ABBY CONNELL NOTES:
•Has started all seven games
•Averaging 7.1 ppg and 1.9 rpg
•Career highs in three pointers made (4) and attempted (8) vs UIU (12/2/16)
•Currently ranks 16th in SMSU history in 3-point attempts (188) and is 17th in made three pointers (58)     

LAUREN HEDLUND NOTES:
•Has started all seven games
•Team high 10.6 ppg and 9.0 rpg
•First SMSU player since 2011 to record 15 plus rebounds (16 rebounds vs Upper Iowa, 12/2/16)
•Scored season-high 21 points vs. South Dakota Mines
•Second all-time in offensive rebounds per game (2.9)
•Eighth all-time in rebounds per game (6.7)     

TAYLOR HOLICKY NOTES:
•Has started all seven games
•Averaging 7.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg
•Recorded double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds vs. William Jewell
•Scored a career-high 14 points vs. Missouri Western State     

CALEIGH RODNING NOTES:
•Started four games and is averaging 21.6 minutes a night on the court
•Averaging 8.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, and 1.3 apg as a true freshman
•Scored season-high 13 points vs. Missouri Western State     

TAYLOR SILVA NOTES:
•Has started all seven games
•Leads team with 3.6 assists per game
•Scored career high 21 points against UIU (12/2/16)
•Grabbed career high four steals against UIU (12/2/16)
•Became first SMSU player since '10 to hit at least 10 free throws (made 10 vs. UIU, 12/2/16)     

KENDRA SNAZA NOTES:
•Has appeared in six games
•Scored six points with two 3-pointers vs. Fort Hays State     

JAMIE SPICER NOTES:
•Has played in all seven games
•Averaging 5.3 ppg
•Second on team with 11 made 3-pointers
•Scored career high nine points vs. Missouri Western State and South Dakota Mines     

BRIANNA VONWAHLDE NOTES:
•Has played in six games
•Scored field goals vs. Fort Hays State and South Dakota Mines
•Attempted career high five field goals vs. MWSU (11/11/16)     

ANGIE WENNING:
•Has played in six games
•Recorded a career high two assists against South Dakota Mines (11/19/16)     

OFF THE BENCH:
•The SMSU bench is averaging 12.9 ppg this season, while its opponents are averaging 27.9 ppg
•SMSU averaged 14 bench points per game in 2015-16     

SHARING THE BALL:
•The Mustangs will look to improve on their early assist numbers as they are averaging just 9.6 assists per game
•SMSU tallied double-digit assists in 20 games last season and averaged 11.8 apg     

WORKING OVERTIME:
•SMSU is 10-24 all-time in overtime games and has not won an overtime game in 11 seasons as the Mustangs are 0-9 since the 2004-05 season
•SMSU is 2-5 in seven double-overtime games
•The last overtime win for SMSU was on Feb. 11, 2005, versus Minnesota Crookston        

HOME AND AWAY:
•SMSU finished 3-12 at home last season and is a combined 14-52 at home over the last five seasons
•The Mustangs, 1-5 in road/neutral site games this season after finishing 2-12 in road/neutral site games last season     

HOME SWEET HOME:
•The 2016-17 season marks the 21st year the R/A Facility has been the home arena for SMSU women's basketball.
•SMSU has compiled a record of 134-129 (.510) in 263 games in the R/A Facility. •SMSU is 314-226 (.581) in all home games in the program's history SMSU in the R/A Facility    

NSIC PRESEASON POLL:
•SMSU was picked to finish 15th overall and eighth in the South Division in the annual 16-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released in October.
•Winona State was chosen as the overall preseason favorite earning 201 points including seven first place votes and were also picked to win the South Division     

MUSTANG HISTORY:
•SMSU is in its 48th year of women's basketball in 2016-17
•SMSU has played in 1,185 games all-time with a 575-610 (.485) all-time record overall
•SMSU is 223-336 (.399) in conference games