The University of Minnesota Duluth will look to build playoff momentum heading into the final weekend of the Northern Sun Intercollegaite Conference regular season but will need a little help from a pair of NSIC North Division rivals as they seek home court advantage in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Postseason Tournament.

UMD (11-13, 9-11 NSIC) have a simple path to the fourth seed in the NSIC North and home court advantage in round one: win both games at home this weekend against Minot State University and the University of Mary, and have St. Cloud State University  lose both its games against the Beavers and Marauders. St. Cloud owns the first tiebreaker over the Bulldogs having had more success against the teams above UMD and SCSU in the standings, so anything short of a UMD outright lead over the Huskies would not get them the fourth spot. The University of Minnesota, Crookston currently holds a two-game lead but can also be knocked out thanks to UMD's tiebreaker with two losses and two Bulldog wins.

SENIOR SCOOP
Head coach Annette Wiles and the Bulldogs say goodbye to a quartet of senior guards at the end of this season, who will be honored on Senior Night this weekend: Danielle Flood, Alyssa Kerkhoff, Jessica Newman, and Shauni Payeur. Flood, a two-year starting guard for the Bulldogs, has appeared in 74 games at UMD. During the 2013-14 season, Flood led NCAA Division II in free throw percentage at 93.2 percent. This season, she's averaging 12.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Kerkhoff, a four-year rotation player for UMD, has appeared in a reserve role in each of the Bulldogs' 24 games this season and 106 games in her career. Earlier this season, she received the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic Award. Newman has been a starter for three seasons at UMD, playing alongside her sister Katrina before stepping out on her own as a senior, averaging a career-high 13.4 points and 4.5 rebounds this season. Her 830 career points have cracked the top-30 all-time in scoring at UMD. Payeur has been a four-year reserve for the Bulldogs, but appeared in a career-high 10 games as a reserve for UMD this season. The trio of Flood, Kerkhoff, and Payeur have all earned NSIC All-Academic Team selections the past three seasons.

FREE THROWS
• Newman averaged 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for UMD last weekend, shooting 31.0 percent (9-of-29) and 5-of-12 from three-point range, adding three assists, one block, and four steals on the weekend. She scored 14 points and grabbed six boards, shooting 5-of-14 on Friday night against Moorhead, nailing a trio of three-pointers, adding two steals, one block, and one assist.
• Flood averaged 10.0 points for UMD, adding a pair of assists and a pair of steals on the weekend. She was 4-of-12 from three-point range.
• Junior guard Taylor Dillinger was just 3-of-6 while averaging 17 minutes per game last weekend, but drew fouls, heading to the free throw line 10 times for eight scores - a third of UMD's output from the charity stripe in two games.

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS (Friday, Feb. 20, 6:00 p.m.) - Live Video/Stats
• U-Mary (9-17, 7-13 NSIC) has lost five of its last six games, breaking a four-game losing streak last Friday night with a win over Bemidji State University. The Marauders knocked off UMD 83-72 in Bismarck, North Dakota earlier this season on Jan. 24 and own a 6-5 edge over the Bulldogs in the all-time series.
• Four players hit double-digits scoring as U-Mary shot 60.0 percent against UMD. Junior forward Brittney Dietz netted a game-high 22 points while senior forward Sloan Turner scored 16 points and hauled in 18 rebounds, eight on the offensive end. Sophomore forward Hannah Larson also grabbed a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
• Dietz is currently no. 11 in the NSIC averaging 15.2 points in conference play. Larson and Turner also rank in the top thirty, each scoring 11-plus points per game this season. Larson's 7.9 rebounds per game are fourth in the league while Turner has hauled in 6.9 on average.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS (Saturday, Feb. 21, 4:00 p.m.) - Live Video/Stats
• Minot State (11-15, 6-14 NSIC) won its last two games, stopping a four-game losing skid last weekend. The Bulldogs defeated the Beavers 72-60 on the road on Jan. 23 earlier this season and now own a 4-2 all-time record against Minot.
• Sophomore guard Alex Haley scored 19 points against UMD, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and making good on 7-of-9 free throws. Senior forward Christina Boag netted 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting while grabbing six defensive rebounds.
• No Beavers rank in the top of the NSIC in scoring with Boag just on the outside at 11.3 points per game. Her 6.3 rebound average ranks no. 18 in the NSIC, with junior forward Savana Kingsbury ranking just ahead at 6.5 per conference game. Boag's 49.3 percent scoring average is seventh in the league.

The Bulldogs and Dragons will take the court on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. in Moorhead. Saturday's outing against Northern State will start an hour later than usual - 5:00 p.m. - in Aberdeen, S.D.