MUSTANGS THIS WEEK
• The No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team (26-3) faces No. 3 seed Minnesota State University (23-6) in the semifinals of the NSIC tournament on Monday at 1:30 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.  
•SMSU advanced to the semifinals following an 87-79 victory over No. 7 seed MSU Moorhead on Saturday. MSU moved to the semifinals after defeating No. 6 seed UMary, 90-66, on Sunday afternoon. 
•The winner of Monday's game will advance to the championship game versus either No. 1 seed Concordia-St. Paul or No. 4 seed Northern State on Tuesday at 4 p.m. 
•SMSU and MSU will be meeting for the fourth straight season in the NSIC tournament and third straight time in the semifinals. MSU has ended SMSU's season in each of the last three years, earning an 89-65 win in the NSIC quarterfinals in 2022, winning 100-82 in the semifinals in 2023 and recording an 88-72 semifinal victory in 2024.
•MSU defeated SMSU, 101-83 in Mankato, in the only meeting earlier this season on Dec. 13.
 
SMSU VS. MINNESOTA STATE ALL-TIME
•SMSU and Minnesota State meet for the 75^th time with MSU leading 51-23 in a series that started during the 1970-71 season.
•MSU has won the previous six meetings with SMSU's victory coming on Dec. 17, 2022, in Marshall.
•SMSU is 6-10 in the series since the 2018-19 season.
•MSU won 23 straight games in the series from 2005-18.
 
 SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT 
•SMSU is 14-19 all-time in the NSIC tournament with one championship (2002) since the tournament started in 2000.
•SMSU has now advanced to the semifinals seven times and has played in three championship games (2000, 2001, 2002). 
•The Mustangs are 7-1 at home, 0-12 on the road and 7-6 in neutral site tournament games. 
 
MUSTANGS SET SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS
•SMSU's win on Saturday was its 26^th of the season setting a school record for victories in a season surpassing the previous mark of 25 set by the 2000-01 squad.
 
MUSTANG INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL NOTES
•Bri Stoltzman has scored 20 or more points in 10 straight games and 11 of the past 12. She has scored 30 or more points five times during the stretch, including scoring a career-high 41 versus Northern State on Jan. 17.
•Stoltzman has scored 1,670 career points ranking third in team history. Lillie Brown (1992-96) ranks second with 1,759, with Julie Thein (1987-91) holding the record with 1,800.
•Audrey Swanson leads the team with 14 double-doubles with seven coming in the last 10 games.
 
STOLTZMAN BREAKS OWN SINGLE-SEASON RECORD AND SETS FIELD GOAL RECORD
•Senior Bri Stoltzman set a pair of team single-season records during Saturday's victory over MSU Moorhead.
•She broke her own single-season scoring record of 579 points she set last season in 31 games. Following Saturday's 30-point effort, Stoltzman has scored 609 points in 28 games played.
•Stoltzman also set the program single-season record for field goals made during the victory. She now has connected on 230 field goals made, moving past Lillie Brown, who made 228 during the 1994-95 season.
 
NIELSEN RANKS FIRST IN SINGLE-SEASON FIELD GOAL PCT.
•Sophomore Natalie Nielsen is shooting 60.8 percent (121 of 199) from the field this season.
•Anne Pryor (1979-80) currently holds the program's single-season record field goal pct. record of 57.2 (99 of 173).   
 
SWANSON CLOSING IN ON SINGLE-SEASON REBOUND MARK
•Junior Andrey Swanson has pulled down 274 rebounds this season ranking fourth in team single-season history and is closing in on the team single-season record.
•Anne Pryor ranks first in team history with 284 rebounds set in 1981-82. Dawn Munson (1977-78) ranks second with 283, while Lillie Brown (1994-95) is third with 282.
 
MUSTANGS SET NUMEROUS TEAM RECORDS
•SMSU has set a program single-season record for points scored with 2,407, breaking the previous record of 2,325 set by last season's team.
•SMSU is averaging 83 points per game, which would break the previous record of 76.9 set by the 1999-2000 team.  
•SMSU has made a team record 878 field goals this season breaking the previous mark of 863 field goals made by the 1987-88 team.
•SMSU is currently shooting 46.9 percent from the field, which ranks first in team history. The 2000-01 team shot 46.2 percent ranking first all-time.
 
STOLTZMAN, SWANSON, AND BLANDIN EARN ALL-NSIC HONORS; STOLTZMAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
•Senior Bri Stoltzman earned NSIC Player of Year and All-NSIC first team honors, while junior Audrey Swanson also earned All-NSIC first team accolades. Senior Peyton Blandin was tabbed All-NSIC second team.
•Stoltzman is the third SMSU player to earn NSIC Player of the Year honors joining Andrea Schreier in 2001 and Michelle Bruns in 2005.

SMSU RANKED NO. 7 IN REGION RANKINGS AND NATIONALLY RANKED IN TWO POLLS
•SMSU entered the NSIC tournament ranked No. 7 in the second NCAA Central Region poll released on Wednesday. The third and final weekly ranking will be on Wednesday with the complete 64-team NCAA tournament released on Sunday, March 9, at NCAA.com.
•SMSU is ranked No. 19 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and No. 21 in the College Sports Communicators (D2CSC) Top 25 polls released last Tuesday.