THIS WEEK - The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (5-23, 3-19 NSIC) will open the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference / Sanford Health Tournament against Northern State (21-6, 17-5 NSIC) in Aberdeen, S.D., on Wednesday night starting at 6 p.m. SMSU enters the tournament as the NSIC South No. 8 seed, while NSU is the NSIC North No. 1 seed.
The winner of Wednesday night's game will play on Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., at 12 p.m., versus the winner of S4 Wayne State and N5 U-Mary. The entire 16-team tournament bracket can be found on page 15. This is the fourth straight season the NSIC tournament, established in 2000, has been a 16-team format.

MEDIA COVERAGE - Wednesday's game can be heard 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 and be viewed online at smsumustangs.com/watchnow.

ABOUT NORTHERN STATE - The Wolves enter the first round of the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament, after capturing their third-straight NSIC North Division crown. NSU finished the regular season 21-6 overall, 17-5 in the NSIC, and have won four straight and five of their last six games. NSU led the NSIC in rebounding defense (32.2) and rebounding margin ( 8.8). Northern State is led by sophomore forward Jill Conrad who averages 13.5 ppg, shoots 52 percent from the field and has a 91.1 percent mark from the free-throw line. Senior guard Devon Brecke averages 11.1 ppg, while shooting 87.4 percent from the charity stripe. Senior center Lauren Deadrick makes her presence known in the box, as she pulls down 8.7 rpg and averages 10.9 ppg while shooting 45.9 percent from the floor.
Northern State is averaging 66.5 ppg, shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 33.6 percent from 3-point range, 72.8 percent from the free-throw line and is a plus-8.8 in rebound margin. NSU opponents are averaging 60.1 ppg and shooting 37 percent from the field. Northern State's head coach Curt Fredrickson is in his 37th season with an overall record of 773-285.

MUSTANGS AGAINST THE WOLVES - Southwest Minnesota State will meet with Northern State for the second time this season and the 64th time in a series that started during the 1969-70 season. SMSU suffered a 84-64 loss to the Wolves earlier this season on Jan. 15, in Aberdeen, S.D. NSU leads the series 47-16, including a 26-4 advantage in games played in Wachs Arena. SMSU has suffered a loss the last two matchups with its last win coming a season ago with a 53-52 upset in Marshall on Jan. 16, 2015, which also snapped a six-game skid in the series. SMSU has lost the last seven games played in Aberdeen, with its last win being a 64-56 victory on Feb. 2, 2008. See page 14 of the game notes for full series.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE WOLVES - Southwest Minnesota State played Northern State earlier this season on Jan. 15. Northern State shot a season-high 57.6 percent from the field to cruise past Southwest Minnesota State, 84-64 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball. SMSU finished shooting 37 percent (22 of 60) from the floor and added 16 points on 24 free throws. NSU finished shooting a season-high 58 percent (34 of 59) from the field and 75 percent (12 of 16) from the foul line. NSU held a 40-30 rebound advantage, while controlling the box with a 40-26 lead in points in the paint and 15 points from second chances. The Wolves also forced the Mustangs into 13 turnovers, which they turned into 17 points.
Annessa Rosch led all scorers with 21 points (7 of 16) from the floor, including 6 for 6 from the line. Taylor Silva, Lauren Hedlund and Hope Bonlander all added eight points apiece. Bonlander controlled the boards for SMSU, pulling down eight, while Hedlund grabbed seven. See page 15 of the game notes for box score.

SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT - SMSU is 8-11 all-time in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. It will be the fourth straight season that all 16 teams qualify for the tournament after the conference expanded before the 2012-13 season. In previous seasons, only the top eight teams in the conference qualified. SMSU has lost nine consecutive NSIC tournament games, with its last win coming in the 2002-2003 season over Wayne State, 67-54. SMSU has advanced to the semifinals four times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) and played in three championship games (2000, 2001, 2002), including winning its lone tournament championship in 2002. See page 3 of the game notes for full series.

SMSU VS NSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT - SMSU is 1-2 all-time against NSU in the NSIC tournament with its lone win a 70-53 victory coming back in 2000 in St. Paul. SMSU will meet with the Wolves for the third consecutive time in the first round of the NSIC tournament in Aberdeen, S.D. SMSU has lost the last two matchups with a 77-42 loss a season ago and a 73-45 defeat in 2014.

CATCHING UP WITH THE MUSTANGS - The Mustangs suffered a 0-2 record to Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State in their last weekend of the regular season. The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team trailed by four points with 2:15 left to play, but came up short as it fell to Concordia-St. Paul, 68-59 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball last Friday night. SMSU finished shooting 44 percent (23 of 52) and 46 percent (5 of 11) from behind the arc. CSP shot 49 percent (29 of 59) from the floor and 31 percent (4 of 13) from 3-point range. Annessa Rosch led the Mustangs with 17 points on 7 of 15 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Sarah Buysse and Lauren Hedlund both added nine points apiece. Hedlund paced the SMSU defense with seven boards, while Rosch and Taylor Holicky pulled down six each.
Against Minnesota State, SMSU lead by 13 points in the first half, but stalled late in the second quarter as Minnesota State came back to defeat the Mustangs 79-63 at the Taylor Center in the final NSIC regular-season game. SMSU finished shooting 41 percent (22 of 54) and 47 percent (8 of 17) from behind the arc. MSU shot 56 percent (29 of 52) from the floor and 40 percent (6 of 15) from downtown. SMSU held a 13-10 advantage in turnovers, but failed to convert as MSU scored 14 points off takeaway to SMSU's eight. MSU also held an 8-0 lead in second-chance points. Annessa Rosch led SMSU with 17 points (6 of 12) including scoring on 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Hope Bonlander scored 15 points (7 of 11), while Lauren Hedlund added 10 (2 of 11), including 6 of 8 from the charity stripe. Bonlander led the SMSU defense with six rebounds.

HEAD COACH - Allison Kruger is in her sixth season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University and has compiled a record of 29-134, including 21-111 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.).