THE OPENING TIP: The University of Minnesota Duluth comes back to Duluth, Minn. to play host to two opponents in Minnesota State University (Jan. 17) and Concordia-St. Paul (Jan. 18) at Romano Gymnasium.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY: The Minnesota State University Mavericks are 3-2 in their last five while dropping the last two matches. The first would be a tough loss to the #14 ranked Sioux Falls Cougars of a score of 91-68. They would then take to Marshall, Minn. to square off against Southwest Minnesota State, falling to the Mustangs in a 78-56 game. After this past weekend, the Mavericks are now 9-5 overall while going 6-4 against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. MSU currently sits in a four way tie for 2nd in the southern division of the NISC while sitting in a five way tie for 4th in the conference overall. The Mavericks are headed by Emilee Thiesse. Thiesse is currently in her 8th season as head coach, carrying a 131-86 (.604) overall record.
Kirsti Klitzke is the head of the offensive attack for MSU, leading the squad with 10.7 points per game. While playing in 23.4 minutes a night, she has managed to grab 2.9 rebounds a game and shoot at a 50.9% (55-108) from the floor. Tayla Stuttley has been right behind Klitzke in scoring, dropping 9.5 per game on the season. While playing in 12 of the 14 games thus far, Stuttley has averaged 18.8 minutes a night and grabbed 3.5 rebounds per. She leads the team with 32 assists and sits 5th on the team with 15 steals.

SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears are 3-2 in their last five contests, including a split last weekend, first beating Southwest Minnesota State in a 68-51 win before falling to the #14 ranked Sioux Falls Cougars in a 74-68 loss. CSP currently carries a 9-7 overall record while going 6-4 in conference play, good for a tie for second in the southern division of the NSIC while sitting in a five way tie for 4th in the conference overall. Currently at the head coaching spot for CSP is Amanda Johnson, who carries a 71-52 (.577) overall record while at the helm.
Sidney Wentland has been the lead of the Golden Bears offense this season, dropping an average if 14.7 points per game a night while being able to grab 5.2 rebounds per game. Wentland has had a 43.5% (84-193) shooting percentage on the year, making 14 3-pointers and dishing out 50 assists on the year. Riley Wheatcraft has been just behind Wentland, scoring at a 13.4 point per game pace. Wheatcraft has been able to grab 5.1 rebounds per night and has dished out 28 assists on the year, making 33 3-pointers on the year.

THE SERIES: Since the 2009-10 season, the Bulldogs currently carry a 7-7 record against the Mavericks, and have won the last four of five games. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a UMD win over MSU, the Bulldogs topping the Mavericks 72-66.
In that same span, UMD is 4-9 against CSP, with the Bulldogs going 2-3 in the past five games against the Golden Bears. The last time the two squads met, CSP got the better of UMD inn a 51-47 battle until the end.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs unbeaten streak in the NSIC was finally brought to an end by the University of Mary in a battle, with UMary coming out on top 76-67. UMD got back on track the next night, coming from behind to take Minot State University to overtime and eventually beating the Beavers 81-75. The Bulldogs now carry a 9-1 NSIC record while going 12-4 overall. UMD sits 1st in the northern division and 1st in the NSIC overall.

HOW THEY RANK: Below is a look at the Bulldogs overall record, division rank, and rank in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association DII Poll, as well as their opponents.
 

SCHOOL	OVERALL	NSIC RANK	WBCA DII
UMD	12-4	1ST	RV
MSU	9-5	T-4TH	NR
CSP	9-7	T-4TH	NR

THE BROADCAST: The game between the Bulldogs and the Huskies will be available through live streaming capabilities at the following link:

UMDBulldogs.com/watch

Live stats are available through the same link, following the live stats button: UMDBulldogs.com/watch

THAT'S OUR BALL: The Bulldogs currently average 34.6 rebounds per game, a big part of that is Brooke Olson, who is sitting 14th in the NSIC for rebounds per game, averaging 6.2 per game. Katie Stark is another top rebounder, who is grabbing an averaging of 5.9 per game, good for 18th in the NSIC.

PASS ME THE ROCK: The Bulldogs are currently in 2nd in the NSIC in assists per game, averaging 15.81, and 2nd for total assists with 253.  Sophomore guard Maesyn Thiesen is leading the way, sitting T-1st NSIC in assists per game with 4.6 (49th in DII) and sits in 2nd in total assists with 73. Ann Simonet has helped along the way, with an average of 2.9 per game (15th in the NSIC) and 46 overall (15th in the NSIC).

TOP OF THE BOARD: UMD ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the NSIC in every single stat category as a team in 2018-19.  Along with ranking top or number two in every category, the Bulldogs ranked in the top six nationally (DII) in seven of those categories.

POINTS ON POINTS: The Bulldogs currently rank 7th overall in overall points in the NSIC. Brooke Olson has been a big part of the attack for UMD, averaging 15.6 points per game, 6th in the NSIC.

BRICK CITY: UMD ranks third in the NSIC in the blocked shots per game category, averaging 3.94 per game. Sarah Grow has lead the team in blocked shots per game (1.8, 29 total) and sits in a T-2nd in the NSIC. Katie Stark has been a huge part of that stat, where she currently sits 7th in the conference with an average of 1.1 per game (17 total).

VALUE POSSESSIONS: The Bulldogs are sitting in 3rd in the NSIC in the assist/turnover ratio category with a 1.24 assist to every turnover. They sit in 15th in the DII landscape in said category.

ON TAP: The Bulldogs take to the road for the second time in the 2020 calender year, first traveling to Moorhead, Minn. to take on the Minnesota State University -Moorhead Dragons (Jan. 24) before going to Aberdeen, SD to square of against the Northern State University Wolves (Jan. 25).