THE OPENING TIP:  The University of Minnesota Duluth will cap off 2018 with a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tilt with St. Cloud State University on Sunday, Dec. 30. The Bulldogs and Huskies will conclude their season series at 2:00 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies are 6-3 overall and are 3-2 in the NSIC. They have won the last three NSIC games after an 0-2 start to the conference slate. Like the Bulldogs, SCSU won in convincing matter both nights over Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. The Huskies shot a season high 52 percent in their last game, a 66-41 win versus the Cougars. 

Madelin Dammann leads SCSU with 12.9 points per game. She is connecting on nearly 48 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc. She scored a season high 20 points two games ago against SMSU, and has reached double figures in seven games. Behind Dammann in the scoring charts is Mallie Doucette who is averaging 11.3 points has the leader scorer coming off the bench. Nikki Niboten has been a force in the interior all season. Niboten is averaging 7.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks this season. She went for eight points, nine rebounds and five blocks in the team's latest outing before the break.

SCSU is another stellar defensive team and one of the best in the nation. The Huskies are giving up on average 54.1 points this season, which is 18th in the nation. Teams are shooting 36 percent against SCSU, a figure in the top 50 defensively. A key component to that success are the number of blocked shots the Huskies are averaging this year. SCSU has 4.4 blocks per game which is 29th in the nation and second in the NSIC.

THE SERIES: UMD and St. Cloud State have played 58 times overall with the all-time series split at 29-29 heading into the pivotal Sunday showdown. The Huskies won both games last season and the Bulldogs can return the favor this season with a sweep of their own after they took the Dec. 1 matchup at Halenbeck Hall 53-42. UMD had three players in double figures and went on a 34-7 run over a 15 minute stretch to secure the victory. Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski led all scorers with 13 points. Freshman forward Brooke Olson led all reserve players with 11 points and sophomore forward Sarah Grow added 10 points.
 
HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents stack up with their records, in the NSIC standings and in the WBCA Coaches Poll.
 

TEAM	RECORD	NSIC	WBCA
UMD	5-3	4-1 (T-3rd)	NR
SCSU	6-3	3-2 (T-5th)	NR

THE BROADCAST: Bulldog Productions will be carrying the game live through a web stream with Matt Johnson and Josh Wallace on the call of the action. The game on Sunday can viewed, with live stat capabilities at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd. 

LAST TIME OUT: UMD fell to Michigan Tech 66-57 in its final non-conference game of the season on Dec. 19. The Bulldogs trailed by as much as 22 before storming back a single possession with just under three  minutes left. The Huskies nailed a three the next possession and blanketed the comeback. UMD had three scorers in double figures. Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski had a team high 16 points and sophomore forward Sarah Grow, the reigning Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division Player of the Week, finished with a her second double-double of the season on 10 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Ann Simonet added 10 points and dished out three assists.

GROWING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT: On Dec. 17, sophomore forward Sarah Grow led the team to a pair of victories and was awarded the NSIC North Division Player of the Week on Monday. It's her first weekly accolade of her career.

Grow averaged a double-double registering 14.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks. On Friday, she tallied nine points, a season-high 12 rebounds and three blocks in the win over Sioux Falls. Grow scored a season high 20 points, with eight rebounds and five blocks in the 21-point win against Southwest Minnesota State. She accounted for 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the second and third quarters as UMD went from trailing by 10 to leading by 17 versus SMSU.

A FAMILIAR NAME: SCSU's Mallie Doucette is the younger sister of Bulldog alum Courtney Doucette, who played at UMD from 2009-2013.

SERIES DEADLOCKED: Four of the last six season series has ended with a split. No team has led by more then four games going back to the 2011-12 season.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE: UMD's last sweep over SCSU came in the 2006-07 season. The Bulldogs won three times that season including once in the North Central Conference Tournament. 

FOR THE SERIES LEAD: UMD lost control of the series in 2017-18, ending a 10-year reign over the Huskies.   The Bulldogs can reclaimed control of the series for the first time since last grabbing control on Feb. 28, 2006.

1K FOR KOZLOWSKI: Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski reached 1,000 points for her collegiate career in the Dec. 19 game against Michigan Tech. She became the 21st Bulldog to accomplish the feat when she sunk a free-throw-line jumper in the third quarter. Taylor Meyer is last UMD player to amass 1,000 points as she reached the mark in the 2016-17 season.

CRASH THE GLASS: Sophomore forward Sarah Grow led the team in rebounds last year as a true freshman as is leading the way again through eight games this season. Grow is collecting 7.8 rebounds per game, which is about 22 percent of the team's total rebounds. She is ninth in the NSIC in rebounding and fifth in offensive rebounds (2.6) per game.

GET THAT OUTTA HERE: Sophomore forward Sarah Grow leads the NSIC in blocked shots. Grow averages 2.88 blocks per game and has at least two blocks in seven games this season. She tallied a career high six blocks in the season opener against Northern Michigan. 

RIM PROTECTOR: Sophomore forward Sarah Grow is one of the best at protecting the basket. She is 13th in the NCAA with 2.88 blocks per game and holds the top billing in the NSIC.

PICKPOCKET: Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski is ranked first in the conference in steals with 2.5 per contest. Kozlowski has recorded a steal in every game this season. In fact, she has at least a steal in the last 19 games dating back to Jan. 20, 2018.

DE-FENSE: UMD is allowing 53.5 points per game this season. That is the best figure in the NSIC and only 13 other teams in the NCAA are holding opponents to a fewer points per game. 

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL: Opposing teams are hitting 36.5 percent from the field this season. UMD is 55th in the nation in defensive field-goal percentage

DENY THE THREE: Opposing teams are shooting 24.8 percent from behind the arc. That percentage clip is 12th-best in the nation.

NO WASTED POSSESSIONS: UMD has 12.8 turnovers per game. It ranks as one of the best teams in the country in not spoiling scoring opportunities. Fourteen other DII schools give the ball away less.

A NEAR SHUTOUT: UMD held SMSU to two points in the entire second quarter on Saturday. It would have marked to first time the Bulldogs held a team to no points in any quarter since the NCAA switched to the 10-minute quarter format in 2015-16. The Mustangs didn't attempt a shot four minutes into the quarter as they finished 1-for-8 with six turnovers.

KEEP THEM UNDER 50: When holding opponents under 50 points, UMD has won its past 20 games. They are 5-0 this season when accomplishing that mark. The last loss to a team when holding them under 50 points came on Jan. 22, 2010 against Minnesota State University.

BACK-TO-BACK NIGHTS UNDER 40: SMSU and USF didn't crack the 40-point mark against the daunted UMD defense. It was the first time the Bulldogs held consecutive opponents to under 40 points since Dec. 3 & 6, 1997. Northland College (Wis.) and the University of St. Francis (Ill.) were UMD victims on those eventful dates.

SLOW OUT OF THE GATE: The first quarter has been the Bulldogs weakest. UMD has scored 99 total points in first quarters this season, the lowest of any quarter. It is the only quarter with a negative scoring margin (-20). Opponents have only trailed twice so far after the opening 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER TAKEOVER: Despite the slow first quarter, UMD is has taken a lead into the half five times this season. It is 5-0 in those games. 
 
FINISH STRONG: The Bulldogs have outscored opponents 127-99 in the final quarter this season.  That is the best quarter-margin (+28) for UMD this season.

FINISH STRONG II: UMD is 18-2 when going to the fourth with a lead dating back to the 2017-18 season. The Bulldogs are undefeated this season (5-0).

ON TAP: UMD will start 2019 on the road with conference games against Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 4-5.