THE OPENING TIP: The University of Minnesota Duluth will close out their final regular season games at Romano this weekend with two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. First, the Bulldogs will take on the Northern State University Wolves (Feb. 14) before taking on the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons (Feb. 15).

SENIOR NIGHT: The Bulldogs will be honoring the team's seniors prior to Saturday's game with the MSUM Dragons (Feb. 15).

SCOUTING REPORT ON NORTHERN STATE UNIVERSITY: The Wolves are coming off of being swept last weekend. NSU took on the University of Sioux Falls on the road first, falling to the (at the time) No. 15 ranked Cougars (65-61). The Wolves then took to Marshall, Minn. to take on Southwest Minnesota State University, ultimately falling to the Mustangs 74-49. In the past five games, Northern has gone 1-4, falling to an even record and a losing record in the NSIC. The Wolves have fallen to UMD (56-39), Concordia-St. Paul (62-54), Sioux Falls and SMSU while beating Minnesota State University (71-65). NSU is now 12-12 on the season, going 8-10 while squaring off against NSIC opponents. That record is good for a 5th spot in the Northern Division, as well as a tie for 13th overall (With SMSU). Paul Krueger is in her 11th season being a head coach and her 2nd with Northern State University. While with NSU, Krueger has carried a 22-31 (.415) record and in her tenure as a head coach carries a 155-156 (.498) record.
Leading the way for NSU is Lexi Wadsworth in terms of scoring. Wadsworth has been able to put up 13.0 points per game in an average of 28.3 minutes a night so far this season. She's been able to be a big part of their rebounding efforts as well, grabbing 5.3 per night, which is second only to Brianna Kusler. Kusler is the No. 2 scorer on the team, putting 12.7 down per night while leading the team with 8.5 rebounds per night. Shes been leading the team with 72 assists on the season as well as grabbing  34 steals as well. Joie Spier factors into the Wolves defence, being the only player on the squad that has reached double digits in blocks so far this season with 13.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOORHEAD: The Dragons are battling to get back into the race for a home game in the Northern Division of the NSIC. MSUM got swept last weekend (falling to Southwest Minnesota State University (66-61) and the University of Sioux Falls (66-46)), but swept the weekend before. In their past five games, the Dragons are 2-3, losing to St. Cloud State University (73-65), SMSU and USF while beating Minnesota State University (66-63) and Concordia-St. Paul (67-66). MSUM is now 16-9 on the year while going 11-7 against NSIC opponents. That 11-7 record is good for a T-3rd (with the University of Mary) in the Northern Division and a T-4th in the NSIC overall. Karla Nelson is at the helm of MSUM this season. The four time NSIC coach of the year is in her 20th season as head coach, and so far has had 19 winning seasons. Throughout her tenure, Nelson has captured a 368-204 (.643) record.
Megan Hintz has lead the way for the Dragons this year, leading the team with 15.2 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. She averages 26.0 minutes a night and has shot 52.2% (140-268) from the floor. Hintz has been the only player to reach double digits for the team in blocks, and has 14 more than the next closest player with 22 on the season. Sarah Jacobson has dished out quite a bit to Hintz this season, and while she leads the team in assists (80), she has been a threat in terms of shooting as well, hitting 50.0% (100-200) and averaging 9.1 points per game. She is also second in the team, grabbing 6.0 rebounds per game. She is leading the team in steals with 29 on the season  

THE SERIES: While Northern holds the past 10 years  record in the matchup (14-9 in favor of NSU), UMD has been able to best the Wolves in the past three contests over the past two years. In 2018-19, the Bulldogs beat NSU 57-41 and 74-56. Just three weekends ago, UMD bested NSU by a score of 56-39. The Bulldogs look to continue the three game win streak this weekend.
When it comes to the Dragons, UMD has not been on a hot streak as of late. The Bulldogs have taken the past two of five games and MSUM is carrying a two game win streak on UMD. When the two teams met three weekends ago, the Dragons got the better of the Bulldogs,beating them by just five points (56-51). UMD holds a 7-18 record in the past 10 years against MSUM.

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs continued their win streak to five games and have been unbeatable at home so far this season. UMD topped two tough opponents in Augustana University (64-56) and Wayne State College (77-54) and have improved to 19-5 on the year while going 16-2 within the NSIC. The Bulldogs are currently No. 1 in both the Northern Division and overall in the NSIC standings.

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 CONF.	WBCA DII
UMD	19-5	1ST	NR
NSU	12-12	13TH	NR
MSUM	16-9	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 34.3 rebounds per game, a big part of that is Brooke Olson, who is sitting 13th in the NSIC for rebounds per game, averaging 6.7 per game. Katie Stark is another top rebounder, who is grabbing an averaging of 5.4 per game, good for 24th in the NSIC and Sarah Grow is averaging 5.3 per game.

PASS ME THE ROCK: The Bulldogs are currently in 2nd in the NSIC in assists per game, averaging 15.96, and 2nd for total assists with 383.  Sophomore guard Maesyn Thiesen is leading the way, sitting T-2nd NSIC in assists per game with 4.1 (72nd in DII) and sits in 3rd in total assists with 99. Ann Simonet has helped along the way, with an average of 3.5 per game (8th in the NSIC) and 85 overall (7th 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 15.7 points per game, 5th in the NSIC.

BRICK CITY: UMD ranks 2nd in the NSIC in the blocked shots per game category, averaging 4.21 per game. Sarah Grow has lead the team in blocked shots per game (2.1, 51 total) and sits in 2nd in the NSIC. Katie Stark has been a huge part of that stat as well, where she currently sits 11th in the conference with an average of 0.8 per game (17 total).

VALUE POSSESSIONS: The Bulldogs are sitting in 2nd in the NSIC in the assist/turnover ratio category with a 1.29 assist to every turnover. They sit in 10th in the DII landscape in said category.

ON TAP:  The Bulldogs look to finish out the regular season on a high note. UMD will take to the road, facing off against the University of Minnesota Crookston (Feb. 21) and Bemidji State University (Feb. 22).