MARSHALL, Minn.- The Southwest Minnesota State University ­women's basketball team (3-23, 3-19 NSIC) will open postseason play at No. 11 MSU Moorhead for an NSIC Tournament first round game on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., in the Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
 
            BROADCAST INFO
•This weekend's games will broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with Anthony Rohlik handling the play-by-play for SMSU basketball
•The game can also be streamed online from SMSUmustangs.com.
 
            SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNEY
•SMSU's only NSIC Tournament Championship came in the 2001-02 season
•SMSU is 8-12 all-time in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament
•SMSU has lost 10 consecutive NSIC tournament games
•The last win for SMSU was during the 2002-03 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)
           
            NSIC TOURNEY INFO
•SMSU enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed out of the NSIC South Division
•MSU Moorhead enter as a No. 1 seed after clinching the NSIC North Division title
•This will be the fifth season of the tournament's current 16-team format after the conference expanded before the 2012-13 season
•Prior to the expansion only the top eight teams in the conference qualified
•Full tournament bracket can be found on page 21
 
            SERIES HISTORY
•Both teams are currently tied, 40-40
•MSU Moorhead has won five straight games in the series dating back to the 2012-13 season
•Southwest Minnesota State's last win was a 64-57 victory during the 2011-12 season in Moorhead
•SMSU is 14-26 all-time on the road in Moorhead
•Complete game-by-game listing of the series is located on page 18
 
            SERIES HISTORY (LAST TIME OUT)
•SMSU and MSU Moorhead faced each other back on Jan. 27 in Marshall
•MSU Moorhead won the first matchup 73-66
•Drew Sannes of MSU Moorhead set an R/A Facility record with 29 field goal attempts
•Sannes had 23 pts while the Dragons' Cassidy Thorson led all scorers with 24 points
•Complete box score from Jan. 27 located on page  20
 
            GAME DAY STORYLINES
•Over the past 10 games, true freshman Caleigh Rodning has led the Mustangs in scoring and rebounding with 16.6 ppg and 10.7 rpg
•Rodning is shooting 44 percent from the field and 42 percent on 3-point attempts over the 10-game stretch with eight straight double-doubles
•SMSU's 71-68 defeat at the hands of CSP was the Mustangs' second game, win or loss, that has been decided by fewer than five points
•All three wins for SMSU have come on the road this season
 
            RECORD WATCH        
•Lauren Hedlund is 30 points away from becoming the 19th member of the SMSU women's basketball 1,000 point club
•Hedlund is second all-time in career offensive rebounding average with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game during her career
•Hedlund, Rodning, and Taylor Holicky are all in the top ten for single season defensive rebounding average:
            Single Season Defense rebound avg
No.      RPG     Name (min 20 games)
1.         7.2       Dawn Munson (25 games) - 1977-78
2.         7.0       Lillie Brown (26 games) - 1994-95
3.         6.5       Taylor Holicky (25 games) - 2016-17
4.         6.0       Lillie Brown (29 games) - 1993-94
5.         5.9       Lillie Brown (27 games) - 1995-96
6.         5.8       Julie Thein (28 games) - 1988-89
7.         5.4       Caleigh Rodning (24 games) - 2016-17
8.         5.3       Cindy Olson (25 games) - 1977-78
9.         5.2       Lauren Hedlund (25 games) - 2016-17
10.       5.2       Julie Thein (26 games) - 1990-91
 
            SMSU HEAD COACH TOM WEBB
•Tom Webb is in his first season as the head coach with a 3-23 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
 
            NSIC RANKINGS (Conference games only)
•SMSU is ranked eighth in the NSIC in three point field goal percentage (.336)
•SMSU is ranked sixth in rebounding (37.2 rpg)
•Lauren Hedlund is third in the NSIC in rebounding with 8.7 rpg and leads the conference with 80 offensive boards
•Caleigh Rodning is fourth in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and ninth in scoring with 15.0 ppg
•Taylor Holicky is ninth in rebounding with 8.0 rpg
•Taylor Silva ranks fourth in assists (4.36 apg)
 
            ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
•SMSU is 3-23 on the season after dropping its final two NSIC games at MSU and CSP last week
•The Mustangs are shooting 39 percent as a team on field goal attempts this season
•Caleigh Rodning leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and averages 7.7 rebounds per game
•Taylor Holicky is averaging 9.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, and has a team high 29 blocked shots on the season
•Taylor Silva has dished out a team-high 111 assists
 
            ABOUT MSU MOORHEAD
•MSU Moorhead's No. 11 ranking is its highest national ranking in school history
•The Dragons (23-3, 20-2 NSIC) were ranked No. 4 in the first Central Region rankings of the year
•MSU Moorhead went 2-0 on the final weekend of the regular season with wins over SCSU and UMD
•MSUM rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat SCSU 81-77 in overtime
•MSUM has the top ranked offense in the NSIC with 72.9 ppg and an average scoring margin of plus 12.9 ppg
           
            LAURIE BOHLER NOTES
•Has appeared in 23 games
•Pulled in career best three rebounds versus Augie (12/30)
•Has appeared in 56 career games
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            EMILY BUYSSE NOTES
•Scored career high 11 points at MSU (2/17/17)
•Made her Mustangs' debut versus Sioux Falls on Nov. 26
•Has appeared in 18 games averaging 14.9 minutes per game
•Younger sister of teammate Sarah Buysse
 
            SARAH BUYSSE NOTES
•Had career high 5 assists against UIU (12/2/16)
•Led team in scoring with 14 points in season debut vs USF
•Started all 29 games as a true freshman in 2015-16
•Averaging 7.5 ppg and 2.8 rpg
•Older sister of teammate Emily Buysse
 
            ABBY CONNELL NOTES
•Has started 21 games
•Scored career high 14 points at WSC (12/31/16)
•Career high 10 field goal attempts vs UIU (1/7/17)
•Has connected on a team-leading 44 three point attempts
 
            LAUREN HEDLUND NOTES
•Seventh in school history for career rebounding average (7.1 rpg), second in offensive rebounds per game (3.0 rpg)
•Has led team in rebounding in 40 games during her career
•Pulled in career high 18 rebounds vs WSU (1/6)
•Scored career-high 27 points vs. St. Cloud State (12/10)
 
            TAYLOR HOLICKY NOTES
•Ranks eighth in school history in defensive rebounding average (4.4 rpg)
•Had career high 22 points vs. Minnesota Crookston (1/13)
•Has started all 26 games and recorded four double-doubles this season
•Has team leading 29 blocked shots on the season
 
            CALEIGH RODNING NOTES
•Scored season high 24 pts at U-Mary (2/4) and vs. Augustana (2/11)
•Season high 14 rebounds vs. Minnesota Crookston (1/13) and MSU Moorhead (1/27)
•Has posted double-doubles in eight straight games
•Has led Mustangs in scoring 13 times as a true freshman and is first on the team with 14.0 ppg
 
            TAYLOR SILVA NOTES
•Has started all 26 games during her senior campaign
•Leads team with 4.3 assists per game
•Had career high eight assists in both games vs. MSU (1/21, 2/17)
•Scored career high 21 points against UIU (12/2)
•Grabbed career high four steals against UIU (12/2)
            KENDRA SNAZA NOTES
•Has appeared in eight games
•Scored six points with two 3-pointers vs. Fort Hays State
 
            JAMIE SPICER NOTES
•Made first career start at Concordia-St. Paul (2/18)
•Has appeared in 24 games as a true freshman
•Scored a season high 17 points going 5-of-6 on three point attempts vs. Minnesota State (1/21)
•Has scored double figures five times after seeing increased minutes in last nine games
 
            BRIANNA VONWAHLDE NOTES
•Has appeared in 17 games with one start
•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 11 games
•Recorded first career field goal vs. Northern State (1/28)
 
            OFF THE BENCH
•The SMSU bench is averaging 18.3 ppg this season, while its opponents are averaging 24.0 ppg
•SMSU averaged 14 bench points per game in 2015-16
 
            SHARING THE BALL
•The Mustangs are averaging 11.6 assists per game
•SMSU tallied double-digit assists in 20 games last season and averaged 11.5 apg
•The Mustangs have hit double digit assists on 17 occasions so far this year
 
            WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 10-25 all-time in overtime games and has not won an overtime game in 11 seasons as the Mustangs are 0-10 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
•SMSU lost its only overtime game of the season , 82-76 at U-Mary
 
            2016-17 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 1,204 games all-time with a 577-627 (.479) all-time record overall
•SMSU is 225-353 (.389) in conference games
           
            HOME AND AWAY
•SMSU finished 3-12 at home last season and is a combined 11-53 at home over the last five seasons
•The Mustangs are 3-12 in road/neutral site games this season after finishing 2-12 in road/neutral site games last season
•SMSU is 0-11 in home games this year
•The following is a statistical comparison of the Mustang team averages for home and away/neutral games in 2016-17:
 
                        W-L     FG%    3-FG% FT%     REB     PTS      TO      
Home              0-11     .385     .340     .699     37.6     60.9     19.3    
Away               3-12     .393     .332     .739     36.1     62.7     18.5
 
             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 134-139 (.491) in 273 games in the R/A Facility
•SMSU is 314-236 (.571) in all home games in the program's history
 
SMSU in the R/A Facility
            Year             Overall    NSIC    Non
            1996-97           6-5       2-3       4-2
            1997-98           5-6       3-3       2-3
            1998-99           11-2     6-0       5-2      
            1999-00           11-3     7-2       4-1      
            2000-01           12-0     9-0       3-0
            2001-02           11-2     8-1       3-1
            2002-03           11-3     7-2       4-1
            2003-04           4-8       2-7       2-1      
            2004-05           10-4     5-2       5-2
            2005-06           5-9       3-4       2-5
            2006-07           5-8       3-6       2-2
            2007-08           5-9       2-7       3-2
            2008-09           9-6       4-6       5-0
            2009-10           10-5     6-4       4-1
            2010-11           6-7       5-6       1-1
            2011-12           3-9       3-8       0-1      
            2012-13           2-10     1-10     1-0
            2013-14           3-9       2-9       1-0
            2014-15           3-11     3-8       0-3
            2015-16           3-12     2-9       1-3
            2016-17           0-11     0-11     0-0
           Totals:          134-139   82-108  52-31