MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State will look to build on their early season success at home as the SMSU women's basketball program gets set to host its second game of the season against Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon beginning at 5 p.m., in the R/A Facility.

Game Coverage
- SMSU vs USF will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Ryan Rohlik and Anthony Rohlik handling the play-by-play for SMSU basketball
- The game can also be viewed online at SMSUmustangs.com

SMSU Quick Hits
- Senior forward, Lauren Hedlund, became the 19th member of the SMSU women's basketball 1,000 career points club earlier this season against Upper Iowa
- Head Coach, Tom Webb, enters his second season at the helm to the SMSU women's basketball program after spending eight seasons at Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.
- SMSU gets set to face Sioux Falls for the second time this season after suffering a 76-58 loss in Sioux Falls back on Nov. 25
- SMSU currently ranks second in the NSIC in free throw percentage and fourth in the conference in offensive rebounding percentage
- SMSU has outscored opponents 151-118 in the fourth quarter of games so far this season
- Taylor Holicky's six blocked shots at USF made her the first SMSU player since 2007 to have at least five blocked shots in a single game

Sioux Falls: Game Preview
    USF Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 22-8, 15-7 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 6-2, 4-1 NSIC
-  Sioux Falls currently ranks fifth in the NSIC in scoring with 67.0 ppg and is fourth points allowed per game allowing opponents just 57.4 ppg
- The Cougars are fifth in the NSIC with a .418 field goal percentage on the season as a team and rank second in the conference with a .368 three point field goal percentage
-  USF is third in the NSIC in turnover margin at +3.2
- Kaely Hummel and Jasmine Harris rank fourth and fifth respectively in the NSIC in scoring at just under 17 ppg each
- Jacey Hulnker is second in the NSIC with 10.4 rpg
- The Cougars lost to UMD, 69-51 last Saturday which snapped a five-game winning streak
- USF will host Chadron State on Tuesday, Dec. 19, before returning to conference play after the holiday break
    Series History
- SMSU leads the all-time series 16-14
- After splitting the first two all-time conference games in 2011 and 2012, USF has gone on to win the last nine games dating back to 2013
- SMSU is 6-8 all-time at home against the Cougars
- USF swept last season's matchups with a 75-40 win in Marshall and a 63-47 win at home in the Stewart Center
- USF won the first game of the year between the two schools, 76-58 back on Nov. 25
- Meleah Reinhart led the Mustangs in scoring in the first contest with 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting
- Caleigh Rodning posted a double-double in the first game with 11 points and 12 boards
- See SMSU Game Notes for complete box score from SMSU vs USF on Nov. 25

4th Quarter Queens
- The Mustangs have outscored opponents 151-118
- SMSU went 8 of 9 (89 percent) shooting as a team in the fourth quarter at SCSU
- The Mustangs went on a 10-0 fourth-quarter run against Winona State and a 19-2 run in the fourth against St. Cloud State
- SMSU has shot 56.2 percent as a team in the fourth quarter over the past two weekends and have drained 13 three pointers in the fourth quarters of those games

SMSU Home and Away
- Below is a breakdown of the Mustangs' stats in home games and road/ neutral games during the 2017-18 season
                               W-L     FG%     3-FG%   FT%    REB     PTS     TO
Home:                     2-1     .374     .316        .774     45.7     70.7     13.7
Away/ Neutral:       0-5     .335     .247        .722     32.8     54.2     20.8

NSIC Stats (Conference Games Only)
Below are highlights of NSIC rankings through the first four weeks of the regular season (as of 12/11):

Player/ Team         Category                             NSIC Rk.

SMSU                     FT Pct.- .794                             2

SMSU                     Opp FG Pct.- .395                     8

SMSU                     Off. Reb. Pct.- .328                    4

SMSU                     Blocked Shots- 4.0 blk/gm         6

Caleigh Rodning     Scoring- 11.8 ppg                    T-18

Meleah Reinhart     Scoring- 11.4 ppg                    T-25

Meleah Reinhart     3 pt FG Pct.- .500                    T-5

Caleigh Rodning     Rebounding- 8.4 rpg                  7

Taylor Holicky         Rebounding- 7.6 rpg                   8

Sadie Stelter           Assists- 3.4 assists/gm            T-6

*for full rankings see SMSU Game Notes

Finding their Stride
- Following a pair of non-conference losses, the Mustangs have improved their season averages in almost every statstical category
- Over the past six games, SMSU...
        - Has a scoring differential that is 8.7 ppg better than their season average
        - Has a +1.2 rebounding average compared with a -4.9 average on the season
        - Averages 65.8 points per game compared to just 44.0 points per game during the opening weekend of the season

Shooting Stroke
- SMSU had a season high 44 percent (20 of 45) shooting night as a team against St. Cloud State
- The Mustangs have nine or more made three pointers in three of their last four games
- Meleah Reinhart and Sarah Buysse combined to go 7 of 9 (78 percent) from behind the arc against St. Cloud State

Fresh Faces
- True freshmen, Sadie Stelter, Meleah Reinhart and Erin Baxter have started all eight games for the Mustangs entering the weekend
- True freshman players have accounted for 55 percent of the total minutes on the court for SMSU through three non-conference games and five NSIC contests with five freshman players averaging over 10 mpg
- Stelter, Reinhart and Baxter are the Mustangs top three leaders in minutes on the court this season

1,000 Point Club
- Lauren Hedlund scored seven points against Upper Iowa to become the 19th member of the SMSU women's basketball 1,000 career points club
- Hedlund averaged double-digit points per game in each of her first three seasons at SMSU
- The last player to reach 1,000 points was Abby Kenealy during the 2011-12 season

SMSU Individual Player Notes
#1 Reinhart Notes: Led the Mustangs in scoring with 18 points after knocking down 4 of 4 three point attempts against St. Cloud State (12/9) ... has started all eight games for SMSU so far this season … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#3 Stelter Notes: Had 13 points, seven assists and four boards agianst WSU (12/2)... has started all six games so far for SMSU, leading the Mustangs in assists in three of those games ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#5 Rodning Notes: Had a season high 19 points at UMD ... posted her third double-double with 18 points and 11 boards vs UIU (12/1) … named to NSIC All-Freshman team in 2016-17 ... posted eight straight double-doubles last season
#10 Bonestroo Notes: Has appeared in all seven games for SMSU ... had team high three assists in career debut vs MWSU (11/10) … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#11 Bohler Notes: Has played in 60 career games ... signed with SMSU during the late signing period on April 16, 2014
#12 Wenning Notes: Has appeared in 13 career games ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 13, 2013
#14 E. Buysse Notes: Connected on 3 of 4 three point attempts against Waldorf (11/18) ... appeared in 19 games as a true freshman ... scored career high 11 points at MSU last season (2/17)
#20 Teske Notes: Went 3 of 5 shooting overall against UIU (12/1) ... signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#21 S. Buysse Notes: Had a career high 22 points against UMD (12/8), her first 20 point game of her career ... Led SMSU in scoring with 18 points against Waldorf (11/18) … has appeared in 54 career games with 45 starts ... averaged 7.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg in 2016-17
#23 Hutton Notes: Made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … had five rebounds vs FHSU … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#24 Baxter Notes: Made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … has reached double figures in scoring in five games this season … signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#30 Lother Notes: Made her SMSU debut vs FHSU (11/11) … joined the SMSU program during the summer of 2017 ... transfer from St. Olaf College
#33 Hedlund Notes: Had seven points to become 19th member of SMSU 1,000 career points club against Upper Iowa (12/1) ... ranks 10th in school history in career rebounds (612) ... ranked fourth in the NSIC in rebounding last season with 8.6 rpg (conf. only)
#35 Akoi Notes: Has team leading 17 blocks on the season ... made her SMSU debut vs MWSU (11/10) … had four blocks in her first career game vs MWSU (11/10) … Signed with SMSU during early signing period on Nov. 10, 2016
#45 Holicky Notes: Became first player since 2007 to have five or more blocks with six blocks at USF (11/25) ... Started all 27 games in 2016-17 … Eighth in SMSU history with 4.4 defensive rebounds per game for her career