MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State will face its next two NSIC opponents this weekend as the Mustangs prepare to travel to play at Minnesota Duluth on Friday night beginning at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday afternoon game at St. Cloud State beginning at 4 p.m.

SMSU Quick Hits
- Senior forward, Lauren Hedlund, became the 19th member of the SMSU women's basketball 1,000 career points club last weekend
- 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 face another pair of NSIC opponents this week after picking up its first conference win of the season last week
- SMSU currently ranks fifth in the NSIC in rebounding and sixth in scoring
- Caleigh Rodning has 13 career double-doubles and has led the Mustangs in scoring in 15 games during her brief SMSU career so far
- 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

Minnesota Duluth: Game Preview
    Game Coverage
- SMSU at UMD 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

    UMD Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 14-14, 11-11 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 5-1, 3-0 NSIC
-  UMD outscored BSU 21-7 in the fourth to erase a fourth quarter deficit last weekend
- The Bulldogs are off to their best start since 2011-12
- UMD was 33 percent from the field while the adversaries hit 40 percent last weekend
- The Bulldogs outscored opponents 40-22 in the fourth quarter last week
- Sammy Kozlowski scored a season high 20 points against the Golden Eagles and had 16.5 points for the weekend
- Sarah Grow had 25 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks last weekend
- Anna Monke led the charge in the win over the Beavers then scored a season high 16 points vs Minnesota Crookston
- The Bulldogs will host Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon
    Series History
- UMD leads the all-time series 18-55
- The Mustangs have won two of the last three games overall despite dropping last year's matchup, 61-48
- UMD is 27-6 all-time in home games against SMSU
- UMD is 14-45 all-time in conference games against SMSU
- The Bulldogs won five straight games in the series from 2011 to 2014
- UMD also won nine straight games from the 2002-03 season to the 2008-09 season
- SMSU won the last game in Duluth, 87-75 back in Jan. of 2016

St. Cloud State: Game Preview
    Game Coverage
- SMSU at SCSU 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
    SCSU Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 11-16, 9-13 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 4-2, 1-1 NSIC
-  The Huskies opened NSIC league play by splitting the team's two road games last weekend
- SCSU defeated Minnesota Crookston 58-52 last Friday night after trailing in the game by as much as 17 early in in the third quarter
- SCSU had 16 point lead against Bemidji State only to fall to the Beavers 52-51 last Saturday
- Andrea Thomas led the team in scoring in both games on the week as she scored 14 points against UMC and a career-high 24 points against the Beavers
- Tori Wortz scored in double figures in both games with 10 points against the Golden Eagles and 14 points against the Beavers
- The Huskies will take on Sioux Falls on Friday night before facing SMSU on Saturday
    Series History
- SCSU leads the all-time series, 37-16
- The Huskies have won 10 straight games in the all-time series dating back to the 2009-10 season
- The Mustangs last win was a 66-44 victory on Feb. 12, 2010 in St. Cloud
- SMSU is 7-17 all-time on the road in St. Cloud
- SCSU is 16-5 all-time in conference games against SMSU

NSIC Stats (Conference Games Only)
    Below are highlights of NSIC rankings through the first four weeks of the regular season (as of 12/5):
        Player/ Team                            Category                            NSIC Rk.
        SMSU                            Scoring Offense- 66.3 ppg                    6    
        SMSU                            FT Pct.- .797                                         6
        SMSU                            Opp FG Pct.- .364                                 6
        SMSU                            3PT PG Pct.- .347                                 5
        SMSU                            Rebounding- 41.7 rpg                           5
        Caleigh Rodning            Rebounding- 10.3 rpg                           4
        Taylor Holicky                Rebounding- 10.0 rpg                           5
        Taylor Holicky                Blocked Shots- 7 (2.33 blk/gm)           T-5
        Sadie Stelter                  Assists- 4.67 assists/gm                       4
        Abuk Akoi                      Blocked Shots- 6 (2.00 blk/gm)             7

Shooting Stroke
- The Mustangs finally found their shooting touch last weekend as they put up 10-plus three pointers in their two NSIC games
- SMSU failed to knock down a single trey in its season opener and didn't reach more than five made three pointers prior to Friday night when it hit 10 three pointers
- The Mustangs attempted 30-plus three pointers in both of their games last week

Fresh Faces
- True freshmen, Sadie Stelter, Meleah Reinhart and Erin Baxter have started all six games for the Mustangs entering the weekend
- True freshman players have accounted for 56 percent of the total minutes on the court for SMSU through three non-conference games and three 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

Conference Openers
- SMSU is now just 11-28 in home openers since 1979-80 season following the Mustangs' loss at USF
- The Mustangs' last win in a conference opener was a 63-56 home win over Augustana in 2010
- SMSU has lost its last five conference openers all to Sioux Falls
- The Mustangs' defeated Upper Iowa, 75-55 in the first home NSIC game of the year for SMSU
- The win over Upper Iowa was the first home conference win for SMSU Head Coach, Tom Webb

1,000 Point Club
- Lauren Hedlund scored seven points last Friday night 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

Record Watch
- Lauren Hedlund (9), Taylor Holicky (4), and Caleigh Rodning (7) each finished in the top-10 in school history for total defensive rebounds in a single season in 2016-17
- Hedlund recently moved into the top-10 in SMSU history in career rebounds this year and began the season in the top-10 in SMSU career rebounding average
- Holicky also entered the season ranked in the top-10 in SMSU defensive rebounding average for her career

SMSU Individual Player Notes
- #1 Reinhart Notes: Led SMSU in scoring for the second time this season with 14 points against WSU going 4 of 7 on three point attempts (12/2) ... has started all six 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: 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 six 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: Averaging 7.0 ppg so far this season ... 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) … reached double-figures for the first time vs FHSU with 10 points (11/11) … 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: Eighth in the NSIC with 2.0 blks/gm so far this year ... 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