The University of Minnesota Duluth will remain at Romano Gymnasium this weekend, hosting a pair of teams with identical 4-1 records in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University.
UMD (0-4, 0-1 NSIC) stumbled for the first time at Romano Gym last weekend hosting St. Cloud State University last time out, having picked up an exhibition victory on its home court over Bethel University on Nov. 7 earlier this season. With the calendar turning, the Bulldogs will look to end their losing skid while also closing out Romano Gym for the season's first half this weekend.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES | 4-1, 1-0 NSIC
Minnesota Crookston knocked off Bemidji State last time out and has played a tough schedule this season, starting its year in Puerto Rico against the Univeristy of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, an NCAA Division II indepdent school ... the Golden Eagles knocked off Division I North Dakota State University 76-73 during the exhibition season ... NSIC North Preseason Player of the Year Katrina Nordick leads Crookston averaging 6.4 rebounds per game while also scoring 12.2 points per outing ... senior guard Alexa Thielman is the Eagles' leading scorer at 14.6 points per game ... head coach Mike Roysland is in his tenth season coaching Minnesota Crookston ... the Bulldogs are 29-1 all-time against the Golden Eagles, knocking off Crookston by nearly identical scores in two meetings last year, 71-67 on Dec. 5, 2014 and 72-67 on Jan. 10, 2015.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS | 4-1, 0-1 NSIC
Bemidji State suffered its first defeat of the season last time out against the Golden Eagles and will travel to St. Cloud State University on Friday night before coming to Duluth ... the Beavers beat up on Division III competition in the non-conference season including a 110-44 victory over Crown College ... junior guard Aimee Pelzer is shooting 54.9 percent on the season and scoring 15.8 points per game ... sophomore centers Sierra Senske (14.6 ppg) and Kate Miller (6.8 rebounds per game) are splitting time at the post for BSU ... head coach Chelsea DeVille is in her first season leading the Beavers ... UMD is 61-16 all-time against Bemidji State, including a 78-65 victory last time out at Romano Gym on Jan. 9, 2015.
FREE THROWSLast weekend, UMD could not right the ship in its return to Romano Gym, falling to St. Cloud State 65-53 ... junior forward
Kenzie Kane scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-8 from three-point range for the Bulldogs ... junior center
Allyson Harris scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds for UMD ... the Bulldogs outscored SCSU 27-25 in the middle two quarters to draw within three, but fell quiet in the fourth as St. Cloud held an 18-9 edge in the final quarter.
HOW TO FOLLOWLive Stats & VideoUP NEXTThe Bulldogs and Eagles will take to the Romano Gym floor on Friday night in what will be UMD's Faculty-Staff Appreciation Game. Opening tip is set for at 6:00 p.m. preceding the men's contest.
