THE OPENING TIP: For the second consecutive season, the University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team finds themselves entering the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament as the North Division's No. 1 seed. UMD will play the University of Sioux Falls, who find themselves seeded fourth in the South Division. The Bulldogs and Cougars will tip off the tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. on Thursday with an early start of 10:00 a.m.
 
SCOUTING REPORT ON THE COUGARS: Sioux Falls enters the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament with an 8-5 mark both overall and in the NSIC, and as previously mentioned were able to lock up the fourth seed in the South Division. The Cougars worked to a weekend split in the final weekend of the regular season against Southwest Minnesota State as they dropped Saturday's game and won their regular season finale 88-83 in overtime on Sunday. Prior to their win on Sunday, Sioux Falls had lost three straight games. Three players to keep an eye on for the Cougars are junior guard Anna Brecht, senior forward Anna Goodhope and junior guard Dallie Hoskinson. Brecht leads USF with 18.0 points per game and and 35.7 minutes played per game. Brecht can also shoot it from the line as she is currently shooting 90% from the charity stripe. Goodhope is currently second on the Cougars in points with an average of 12.7 per game and averages 6.2 rebounds per game. She also carries a 46.0 field goal percentage on the season. Lastly, Hoskinen leads USF on the glass with 7.8 rebounds per game and in assists with 3.3 per game. Hoskinen's 1.2 steals per game are good for second on the Cougars. Sioux Falls is coached by Travis Traphagen. The 2020-21 season is his 13^th season at the helm of the Cougars and he carries a 245-117 (.676) record in his 12 full seasons.
 
THE SERIES: UMD and Sioux Falls have only met eight times dating back to the 2013-14 season. The Bulldogs carry a 5-3 record against the Cougars in those eight matchups. UMD and Sioux falls met only once in the 2019-20 season with UMD defeating USF 84-74 on the road. The last time the Bulldogs and the Cougars met in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament was during UMD Head Coach Mandy Pearson's first season with the Bulldogs in 2015-16. USF defeated UMD that night 66-50. The Bulldogs will look to avenge that tourney loss with a win on Thursday morning.
 
LAST TIME OUT: UMD closed out its regular season schedule by hosting St. Cloud State University. The Huskies were able to hand UMD its first loss of the season Friday night, however Saturday afternoon was a different story. After trailing for the majority of three quarters of play, the Bulldogs started to click. Junior forward Brooke Olson led the way for the Bulldogs, posting 26 points and 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Senior guard Ann Simonet and senior guard/forward Payton Kahl both finished in double digits in the points column with 11 and 10 points respectively. UMD would score 24 points in the fourth quarter and hold St. Cloud State to only nine en route to a 69-60 comeback win. Despite Friday's loss, one win on the weekend was all the Bulldogs needed to win their second consecutive NSIC North Division Championship and as previously mentioned clinch the No. 1 seed in the North Division.
 
LAST TIME IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT: Last year, UMD found themselves in a similar position as the No. 1 seed in the 2020 NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. UMD put together an electric run that saw them defeat Upper Iowa, Northern State and Minnesota State on the way to the conference championship game. Unfortunately for UMD, they would succumb to a defeat against St. Cloud in the 2020 tournament. This year, the road to the championship game will be shorter for UMD as this year's tournament is only made up eight teams, pitting them in the quarterfinals right from the jump.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and USF matchup in some notable team and individual categories leading into their quarterfinal matchup.
 

School	Record	Tournament Seed	Scoring Offense	Scoring Defense	Scoring Leader	Rebound Leader
UMD	10-1	#1 North	68.1	57.9	Brooke Olson 20.0 PPG	Brooke Olson 6.5 RPG
USF	8-5	#4 South	72.2	68.5	Anna Brecht 18.0 PPG	Dallie Hoskinson 7.8 RPG

 
THE BROADCAST: Bulldog fans you can watch the action all weekend by clicking here:
 
LIVE STATS:Follow along with SIDEARM live stats by clicking here:
 
GETTING BUCKETS: The Bulldogs have been selective and getting open looks all season and they have been reaping the rewards. Their 44.8% field goal percentage leads the NSIC and ranks 20^th in all of NCAA DII. UMD has eight players that have a field goal percentage over 40% for the 2020-21 season. They also have four players that have are shooting over 35% from beyond the arc on the season.
 
CAPITALIZING FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: UMD has been locked in from the free throw line this season. The Bulldogs have been converting at 77.4% this season. That is good for 16^th in the NCAA and third best in the NSIC.
 
NO TURNOVERS: UMD has been great at protecting the basketball this season. The Bulldogs turn the ball over less than any other team in all of DII women's basketball. Their 10.3 turnovers per game are the fewest in all of the land including the NSIC. Protecting the ball so well helps them maintain a turnover margin of +3.45 which is good for third in the NSIC and 40^th in DII women's basketball. UMD's assist to turnover ratio of 1.39 is fifth best in all of NCAA DII and tops in the NSIC.
 
NO FOULS: The Bulldogs have rarely sent their opponents to the line this season. They are currently averaging 11.7 fouls per game, a number that is good enough for second in all of NCAA DII.
 
DE-FENSE: The UMD defense has remained stout all year during the 2020-21 season. They continue to be near the leaders in scoring defense in both the NSIC and the NCAA. Their scoring defense of 57.9 poins against per game is ranked second in the NSIC and also 18^th in all of NCAA DII.

BLOCK PARTY: Averaging 4.5 blocks per game, the Bulldogs have been rejecting shots all over the defensive end this season. UMD's 4.5 blocks per game is good for 19th in the NCAA during the current campaign. Senior forward Sarah Grow has played a huge role in that effort on the defensive end for UMD. Her 2.2 blocks per game is good for second in the NSIC and 17th in all of NCAA DII. Payton Kahl has also been force on defense, averaging 0.8 blocks per game which is good for 13th in the NSIC.

OFFENSIVE CATALYST: Brooke Olson has been nothing but noteworthy this season. Olson led the NSIC in points per game during the regular season with an even 20.0 per game, leading the next closest player by 1.2 points. Her 20.0 points per game are tied for 17th best in the NCAA DII. Enabling her scoring touch has been her dynamite numbers from the field. Olson went 83-158 (52.5%) from the field during the regular season. The Rice Lake, Wis. native eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for her UMD career last weekend during Friday's game against St. Cloud State. In the shortened eight-week season, she was able to win two NSIC North Division Player of the Week honors.
 
ON TAP: With a win on Thursday, UMD would play the winner of the Bemidji State and Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday morning.