After claiming a pair of seasons sweeps over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division foes a week ago, the University of Minnesota Duluth will dip into interdivisional play once again when they play host to a pair of NSIC South opponents this weekend, including the No. 24-ranked team in the nation.

UMD (7-7, 5-5 NSIC) celebrated 400 wins in the career of head coach Annette Wiles on Friday night when the Bulldogs knocked off Bemidji State University 78-65 at Romano Gym, improving to .500 with a tightly contested 72-67 victory over the University of  Minnesota, Crookston on Saturday.

FREE THROWS
• Earning NSIC North Player of the Week honors for the third time this season, junior forward Taylor Meyer continued to be the driving force for the Bulldogs' offense, averaging 26.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on the weekend shooting 54.5 percent while adding a pair of assists and two steals. On Friday night, she scored a career-high 37 points on  against the Beavers while securing her seventh double-double of the season with 14 rebounds.
• Senior guard Jessica Newman produced consistent numbers for the Bulldogs, scoring 21 points with five rebounds on Friday night against Bemidji State and 20 with six on Saturday against the Eagles, while adding seven assists, a pair of blocks, and seven steals on the weekend.
• Meyer currently ranks second in NSIC play averaging 20.1 pointsper game, with Newman ranked ninth at 15.4. Meyer also is one of three players in the conference averaging double-digit rebounds in league play at 10.1 per outing.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS (Friday, Jan. 16, 6:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• No. 24 Wayne State (13-3, 7-3 NSIC) has won four in a row but dropped in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll this week, knocking off Minnesota State University Mankato and Concordia University, St. Paul last weekend.
• Senior guard Ashton Yossi earned the NSIC South Player of the Week honors this week, meaning the league's two weekly honorees will match up on Friday night in Duluth. Yossi averaged 18 points, two rebounds, and two assists last weekend. Yossi, averaging 11.9 points per game this season, is currently third in the NSiC in free throw percentage at 92.9 percent in league play.
• Senior forward Jordan Spencer ranks seventh in the conference, averaging 15.9 points per game, and has also grabbed 8.9 boards per NSIC outing. Her 48.4 percent shooting average ranks 12th in the conference, just ahead of teammate freshman Maggie Schulte at 47.9 percent on the year.
• The Bulldogs are 12-9 all-time against the Wildcats, falling 81-69 against Wayne State, then-No. 9 in the nation, on Feb. 1, 2014 last season.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS (Saturday, Jan. 17, 4:00 p.m.) - Live Stats/Video
• Augustana (10-7, 4-6 NSIC) has lost three of four entering weekend play, but split last weekend against Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State, and the Vikings will take on St. Cloud State before coming to Duluth on Saturday evening.
• Senior guard Shaunteva Ashley leads the NSIC scoring, just edging out Meyer at 20.4 points per game so far this season, while also dishing out 5.1 assists and grabbing 1.7 steals per outing.
• Junior forward Nicole Kerkhoff ranks 12th in the league in scoring at 14.9 points per game and eighth in both rebounding (7.2/game) and shooting percentage (50.8). Freshman Logan O'Farrell averages a block per game in the NSIC.
• The Vikings own a 15-8 all-time record against UMD, but the Bulldogs picked up an 84-70 victory over Augustana on Jan. 31, 2014 last season.

The Bulldogs and Wildcats will take the court at Romano Gym on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.