THE OPENING TIP:  The University of Minnesota Duluth plays St. Cloud State University to open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule on Saturday, Dec. 1. The two intrastate rivals go head-to-head beginning at 4:00 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies are 3-1 after wrapping up non-conference play. They concluded that schedule with a 97-29 beatdown of Northland College at home last Saturday. The week prior, SCSU traveled to the Central Washington Tournament and dropped its only match against the host school.
Mallie Doucette leads the Huskies with 14.8 points per game. Doucette scored a season-high 27 points in the season opener. She is the perimeter marksman with 10 three pointers made this season. Madelin Dammann is second in scoring with 13.5 points. She has reached double figures in all four games. Collectively, the Huskies have five players average over four rebounds. Nikki Kilboten leads that pack with 5.5 rebounds per game. Brehna Evans leads the teams in assists (3.3) and steals (2.0).
St. Cloud State is averaging 74.5 points this season and giving up 53.5 points, the 19th best national rank and second best in the NSIC behind Sioux Falls. In its four games this season, the Huskies are shooting 43.1 percent. They are one of the better free-throw shooting clubs in the nation. They have hit on 56 of their 73 attempts, good for 76.7 percent. Only 32 teams have shot better at the line. SCSU has done a good job with ball control. It turns the ball over roughly 12 times a game and it has the 22nd best turnover margin with plus-7 per contest.

THE SERIES: UMD and St. Cloud State have played 57 times overall with the Huskies leading the all-time series 29-28. St. Cloud State won both games last season. It won 58-52 in St. Cloud on Dec. 16, 2017 and took the season series at Duluth with a 71-65 victory on Feb. 6, 2018. The Bulldogs last victory over the Huskies came on Dec. 12, 2016.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and SCSU stack up with their records, in the NSIC preseason poll and in the WBCA Coaches Poll.
 

TEAM	RECORD	NSIC	WBCA
UMD	1-1	5th	NR
SCSU	3-1	11th	NR

THE BROADCAST: The game on Saturday can viewed at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

In addition, live stats are available at: scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

LAST TIME OUT: UMD as unable to upsets No. 9 Drury University on the road as it loss 70-58. The Bulldogs gave the Lady Panthers their best test to date. Drury averaged nearly 91 points per game and it was blowing teams out by nearly 25 points a game. Drury was held to a season-low 70 points and shot a season-low from the field. The Lady Panthers made 23 of their 65 shots, good for 35.4 percent. The Bulldogs were dominant on the perimeter defensively as Drury went 0-for-11 behind the arc. 
Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski had 16 points as she was one of four players in double figures. Sophomore forward Payton Kahl notched a career high 12 points in the setback while sophomore forward Sarah Grow amassed a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Emma Boehm (10) was the other Bulldog in double figures. Freshman forward Brooke Olson mustered a collegiate best six assists and five rebounds.

HALT THE HUSKIES: Last season, SCSU shot a combined  54.8 percent from the field in both games. The Huskies shot 15 percent better than UMD's other opponents from 2017-18.

CLEAN UP THE GLASS: The Huskies dominated the glass and the Bulldogs need to make a concentrated effort in attacking the boards this season. St. Cloud State averaged 13 more rebounds in their two showdowns. 

AND CONVERT OFF TURNOVERS: UMD won the turnover battle heavily in the 2017-18 series but they weren't able to make the Huskies pay. UMD won the turnover battle 40-22 but only had two more points off those turnovers (27-25).

NSIC PRESEASON COACHES POLL: The Bulldogs have steadily climbed to the forefront of the NSIC the past three seasons under the new regime of head coach Mandy Pearson. Around the league, the coaches highlighted UMD as one of the teams to beat this season., UMD was picked to win the NSIC North Division and fifth overall in the annual preseason poll, released Oct. 18. 
For the second time, UMD was picked to win the north edging out Minnesota State University Moorhead for the preseason divisional crown. It's the Bulldogs first since the conference originally introduced divisions in 2012-13. The University of Sioux Falls was chosen by the league coaches as the overall favorites in the NSIC for the 2018-19 season. The Cougars were also selected as the south division favorites.
Gabbie Bohl from the University of Mary was named  the NSIC North Division Preseason Player of the Year while Concordia-St. Paul's Anna Schmitt was bestowed the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year honors.

NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs bring in four newcomers this season after losing five letterwinners and a total of four seniors from last season. UMD bring in a pair of forwards -- Brooke Olson (Rice Lake, Wis.) and Lauren Miller (Zumbrota, Minn.) -- to strengthen the interior. In addition, the Bulldogs brought in the a pair of guards for added backcourt depth. Maesyn Thiesen (Sauk Centre, Minn.) is prepping to be the point guard of the future while Emma Schmidt (Dumont, Minn.) is a slashing off-ball guard.

THE SCOOP ON THE DOGS: UMD took another successful stride in the right direction last year finishing 16-11 and 13-9 in conference play – both program bests since 2011-12. The Bulldogs lost six letterwinners but return all five starters and their top six scorers from last season. UMD was a fundamentally sound group a season ago, No. 1 in the nation in fewest turnovers and third in the NSIC in assists per game. The Bulldogs boasted solid defensive numbers giving up 60.7 points per game, the third best defense in the NSIC. UMD is following the lead of Sammy Kozlowski. In addition, Sarah Grow, who was named to the NSIC All-Freshman team in 2017-18, locks down the interior after averaging roughly 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks per contest. Alongside that duo in the starting rotation are savvy veterans Katie Stark and Emma Boehm and sophomore three-point specialist Ann Simonet. Taylor Schneider and Payton Kahl lead the bench rotation and the Bulldogs hope that the nine underclassmen can provide immediate impact.

ON TAP: UMD continues the NSIC road swing with Minot State University and the University of Mary on Dec. 7-8.