THE WEEKEND - The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (5-21, 3-17 NSIC) will close the regular season this weekend with games against Concordia-St. Paul (12-14, 8-12 NSIC) and Minnesota State (8-16, 7-13 NSIC). The Mustangs will face the Golden Bears on Friday night at 6 p.m., before playing the Mavericks on Saturday at 4 p.m. 

    MEDIA COVERAGE - Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball during the NSIC season can be heard all season long on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik handling the play-by-play and Anthony Rohlik as color analyst. Games can be heard via live stream at marshallradio.net. All NSIC games can be viewed online at smsumustangs.com/watchnow.

    ABOUT CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - The Golden Bears enter the weekend 12-14 overall, 8-12 in the NSIC and went 1-1 last weekend defeating Upper Iowa 71-55, before suffering a 73-60 defeat to No. 8 Winona State. Concordia-St. Paul is led by freshman guard Anna Schmitt who averages 15.3 ppg, shots 47.8 percent from the floor and has made 37 3-pointers, while shooting 36.3 percent. Sophomore guard Lauren Shiffiett is averaging 14.8 ppg, shooting 41.6 percent from the field and has made 60 3-pointers, while shooting 36.1 percent from behind the arc. Junior guard Mishayla Jones and junior center Caitlyn Russell both add to the offense averaging 12.2 ppg and 11.1 ppg, respectfully. Sophomore guard Kyrah Fredenburg leads the defense averaging 10.7 rpg.
    Concordia-St. Paul is averaging 73.8 ppg, shooting 41.7 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from 3-point range, 69.4 percent from the free-throw line and is a minus-2.1 in rebound margin. CSP opponents are averaging 73.9 ppg and shooting 40.6 percent from the field. Concordia-St. Paul's  head coach Amanda Behnke is in her 1st season as the interim head coach after assuming the position during the winter break of the season. She spent the previous three years at Concordia-St. Paul as a graduate assistant and top assistant coach. 

    MUSTANGS AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS - Southwest Minnesota State will meet with Concordia-St. Paul for the second time this season and the 50th time in a series that started during the 1974-75 season. SMSU suffered a 78-70 loss to the Golden Bears earlier this season on Jan. 23, in Marshall. Concordia-St. Paul leads the series 33-16, including a 19-8 advantage in games played in the Gangelhoff Center. SMSU has suffered a loss the last eight matchups in the series with its last series win a 60-55 victory on Dec. 10, 2011, in Marshall. SMSU has lost the last 17 games in St. Paul, dating back to the 2001-02 season. See page 14 of game notes for full series.

    LAST TIME AGAINST THE GOLDEN BEARS - Southwest Minnesota State played Concordia-St. Paul earlier this season on Jan. 23, and lost 78-70 in the R/A Facility. SMSU finished shooting 39.7 percent (25 of 63) from the floor and 80 percent (12 of 15) from the free-throw line. CSP shot 46 percent (29 of 63) from the field and 12 of 12 from the charity stripe.
    Annessa Rosch led the Mustangs with 17 points (6 of 14), while Hope Bonlander added 16 points (6 of 10). Lauren Hedlund added nine points (3 of 8) and Taylor Silva dished out five assists. Hedlund paced the defense with 11 rebounds and Taylor Holicky pulled down six. SMSU made use of 16 offensive boards converting them into 13 points. See page 15 of game notes for box score.

    ABOUT MINNESOTA STATE - The Mavericks will enter the weekend 8-16, 7-13 in the NSIC and will play Sioux Falls on Friday night. MSU split games last week with a 69-61 loss over No. 8 Winona State, before bouncing back with a 61-56 victory over Upper Iowa. Sophomore forward Claire Ziegler leads Minnesota State averaging 13.8 ppg, shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and leads the team averaging 8.6 rpg. Junior guard Britney Scherber averages 13.5 ppg, is shooting 35.7 from the field, scored 41 3-pointers on 35.7 percent shooting  from downtown.
    Minnesota State is averaging 68.9 ppg, shooting 39.2 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from 3-point range, 71.9 percent from the free-throw line and has a plus-1.0 in rebound margin. MSU opponents are averaging 74.8 ppg and shooting 41.3 percent from the field. Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse is in her fourth season with an overall record of 78-38. Prior to joining MSU in 2013, she spent stints at South Dakota State and Drake

    MUSTANGS AGAINST THE MAVERICKS - Southwest Minnesota State will meet with Minnesota State for the 54th time in a series that started during the 1970-71 season. MSU leads the series 36-17, including winning the last 18 matchups. SMSU's last series win dates back to the 2004-05 season in Marshall. MSU holds a 21-6 advantage in games played in the Taylor Center, including winning the last nine. SMSU's last win in Mankato was in the 2003-04 season. See page 14 of game notes for full series.

    LAST TIME AGAINST THE MAVERICKS - Southwest Minnesota State played Minnesota State earlier this season on Jan. 22, and suffered an 88-77 loss in the R/A Facility. SMSU finished shooting 40 percent (32 of 80) from the floor and 59 percent (10 of 17) from the charity stripe. MSU  shot 45 percent (32-71) from the field and 68 percent (17 of 25) from the stripe.
    Hope Bonlander led SMSU with 23 points (10 of 15) and pulled down 10 rebounds to earn her second double-double of her career. Annessa Rosch added 17 points (8 of 19), while Sarah Buysse scored 14 points (5 of 11). Lauren Hedlund pulled down nine rebounds and Taylor Silva nabbed three steals. See page 15 of game notes for box score.

    CATCHING UP WITH THE MUSTANGS - The Mustangs suffered a 0-2 record to Wayne State and Augustana in their last home weekend. Augustana University used a key 12-0 run midway through the third quarter to erase an eight-point deficit and defeat Southwest Minnesota State, 70-60 in NSIC women's basketball last Friday night at the R/A Facility. SMSU built its largest lead of the game at 44-36 with six minutes left in the third quarter following a 3-pointer from Annessa Rosch, but Augustana answered with 12 straight points to key the comeback victory. Augustana finished the game shooting 41 percent with Presley O'Farrell leading the squad with 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting. Rosch led the Mustangs with 14 points, including drilling four 3-pointers. Sarah Buysse added 12 points, while Hope Bonlander added 10 points. SMSU closed the game shooting 41 percent, while making 8 of 18 3-pointers, but committed 21 turnovers. 
    Against Wayne State, SMSU shot 33 percent (22 of 67) from the floor and 64 percent (7 of 11) from the stripe. SMSU also did not make a 3-pointer for second time this season (WSU 12/4). WSC  finished shooting 36 percent (23 of 64) and 71 percent (12 of 17) from the charity stripe. Lauren Hedlund paced the Mustangs with 23 points on 9 of 21, including 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. Hope Bonlander added 19 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Both Hedlund and Bonlander pulled down double-digit rebounds to earn double-doubles. Hedlund tallied 13 boards for her sixth double-double of her career-fifth of the season-while Bonlander had 12 boards for her third career double-double.

    HEAD COACH - Allison Kruger is in her sixth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University and has compiled a record of 29-132, including 21-109 in NSIC play. Prior to SMSU, Kruger spent two seasons as assistant coach at NCAA Division I University of South Dakota and four years at Wayne State (Neb.).