MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State gets set to close out a four-game road stretch on its conference schedule as it travels to face MSU Moorhead on Friday night at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday evening contest at Northern 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 earlier this season against UIU
- 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 closes out a four-game road stretch with a difficult trip to play at MSU Moorhead and Northern State this weekend
- SMSU outscored CSP 33-22 in the fourth quarter to force overtime last week and have a +23 scoring margin in the fourth quarter against all opponents
- Caleigh Rodning currently ranks in the NSIC's top-10 in rebounding (total, offensive and defensive), free throw percentage, and ranks 12th in scoring
- 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

MSU Moorhead: Game Preview
    MSUM Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 24-5, 20-2 NSIC (NSIC Champions)
- 2017-18 Record: 15-3, 12-2 NSIC
- MSU Moorhead extended its season best, nine-game win streak after road wins at Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State last week
- The Dragons are 6-1 on the road this season and 7-2 at home in the Alex Nemzek Hall
- Sophomore forward, Megan Hintz, leads NSIC in field goal percentage at .580
- Junior guard, Jacky Volkert, leads NSIC at 5.8 assists per game and is second in assist to turnover ratio
- Senior guard, Cassidy Thorson, leads NSIC at 2.9 threes per game
- Senior forward, Drew Sannes, is four blocks away from tying an MSU Moorhead all-time career record
- The Dragons had four players (Vokert, Thorson, Sannes and Hintz) reach double-figures at UMD and SCSU last week
    Series History
- MSU Moorhead leads the all-time series 41-40
- The Dragons pulled ahead in the series with a 73-66 win in Marshall last season and a 71-35 win in Moorhead in the first round of last year's NSIC Tournament
- MSU Moorhead has won six straight games dating back to Jan. of 2013
- The Mustangs last win was a 64-57 win in Moorhead in Jan. of 2012
- MSU Moorhead is 36-31 over SMSU in conference games
- The Dragons hold a 27-14 advantage in home games against SMSU
    Game Coverage
- SMSU vs MSUM 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

Northern State: Game Preview
    NSU Team Notes
- 2016-17 Record: 24-7, 16-6 NSIC
- 2017-18 Record: 16-4, 11-3 NSIC
- Northern State moved out of the rankings in this week's WBCA Top-25 poll but still received votes
- The Wolves opened lasat week with a 40-point victory over Presentation and spilt its weekend NSIC games with St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth on the road
- The Wolves out-scored their opponents by 12.3 points and out-rebounded their opponents by 19.3 boards per game
- A total of five Wolves finished the week averaging double figures, and four shot 50.0 percent or better from the floor last week
- Miranda Ristau led NSU with 19.7 ppg after notching a new career high of 31 against the Bulldogs last week
- Gabby Laimer and Jill Conrad averaged 15.0 and 12.0 points, while Jessi Marti and Haley Rithmiller each averaged 11.0 points
for the week
    Series History
- NSU owns a 49-16 lead in the all-time series
- The Wolves have won 10 of the last 11 games dating back to the 2010 season
- SMSU last defeated Northern State, 53-52 back in Jan. of 2015
- SMSU is 4-27 all-time at Northern State with its last road win coming in a 64-56 win back in Feb. of 2008
    Game Coverage
- SMSU vs NSU 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

Misc. Statistics
- The Mustangs have three players with a true rebounding percentage (Pct of all available rebounds grabbed while on the floor) over 15 percent: Hedlund (17.6), Holicky (16.1), and Rodning (15.2)
- Sadie Stelter has a team leading 26.3 assist percentage (pct of teammate field goals assisted while on the floor) for players that have seen at least 100 minutes on the court this year
- Caleigh Rodning enters the weekend with a team leading .600 true shooting percentage (ts% takes into account field goals, 3-pointers, and free throws)
- SMSU scored 52 second half points against CSP, a season-high for any half to this point
- The Mustangs also set a season high for free throws attempted (42) and free throws made (36) in last Friday's loss at CSP
- The Mustangs' season high 94 points at CSP was the first time SMSU had put up 90-plus points since hanging 101 on Crown College back in Nov. of 2013

Recipe for Success
    In its four wins this season, SMSU has:
- Committed 13 or fewer turnovers
- Held opponents to 35 percent shooting or below
- Combined for at least 11 assists as a team and attempted at least 61 field goals
- Tied or outrebounded its opponent, pulling in at least 37 total rebounds as a team
- Been led in scoring by Caleigh Rodning who has 18.8 ppg and has shot 54 percent (21 of 39) from the field

NSIC Stats (Conference Games Only)
- Below are highlights of NSIC rankings through the first four weeks of the regular season (as of 1/23):
Player/ Team                            Category                            NSIC Rk.
SMSU                                    FT Pct- .753                                5
SMSU                                    Reb.- 40.8 rpg                             3
SMSU                                    Blocked Shots- 4.6 bpg               3
SMSU                                    Off Reb.- 13.8 orpg                     1
SMSU                                    Off. Reb. Pct.- .338                     4
Caleigh Rodning                    Scoring- 13.1 ppg                      12
Caleigh Rodning                    Reb.- 7.9 rpg                               6
Caleigh Rodning                    Off. Reb.- 2.5 rpg                        6
Caleigh Rodning                    Def. Reb- 5.4 rpg                        6
Caleigh Rodning                    FT Pct.- .862                              10
Abuk Akoi                               Blocks- 1.8 bpg                          5

*for full rankings see SMSU Game Notes

4th Quarter Queens
- The Mustangs have outscored opponents 304-281 (+23) in the fourth quarter of games this season, its only positive scoring differential of any quarter
- SMSU outscored Concordia-St. Paul, 33-23 in the fourth quarter last Friday to force the game into overtime
- Caleigh Rodning knocked down a game-tying three pointer with 14 seconds remaining at Concordia-St. Paul last Friday