Last weekend, the Bulldogs hosted Minnesota State and Concordia St. Paul as they went on to a big 2-0 weekend.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs defense came out strong. The Bull- dogs kept up the pressure as they jumped out to an early 15-2 lead. The Mavericks managed to score a basket before the end of the quarter as the Bulldogs took a 15-4 first quarter lead.
In the second quarter, the Mavericks offense found their stroke as they quickly battled their way back into the game. They cut their deficit down to two points with 5:02 left in the half as the Bulldogs led 19-17. After a 3-point play by Joey Batt, the Mavericks finished their 2nd quarter comeback as they took a 30-28 lead into halftime.
After teams traded baskets to begin the quarter, teams found them- selves tied up at 37-37 with 4:07 left in the third quarter. The Bulldogs managed to pull slightly ahead at the end of the third quarter thanks to a pair of baskets from Maesyn Thiesen and Brooke Olson. The Bulldogs took a 43-40 lead into the fourth quarter.The Bulldogs came out in the fourth quarter and managed to main- tain their small lead despite the Mavericks attempting a comeback. Olson played her best basketball down the stretch as she had three straight baskets for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs closed out the Mavericks as they went on to win 61-52.

In their game against Concordia St. Paul, the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead as they took an 11-0 lead. The Bulldogs led by double digits the rest of the way as they led by as many as 17 points in the first quarter. The Bulldogs offense stayed hot the rest of the first quarter as they took a 25-11 first quarter lead.
Brooke Olson started the quarter with a three-pointer for the Bull- dogs. The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 points in the second quarter. The Bulldogs and Golden Bears traded baskets towards the end of the half, but the Bulldogs kept the lead out of reach as they took a 41-21 halftime lead.
The third quarter was much of the same for the Bulldogs. After a layup from Maesyn Thiesen, the Bulldogs began to extend their lead towards the end of the quarter as they went into the fourth quarter with a 57-30 lead.
With the game out of reach, the Bulldogs began to empty their bench as the whole roster played. The Bulldogs had 12 players score on the night as the Bulldogs won big by a score of 86-42.

Bulldogs Travel to Face Warriors and Peacocks

The Bulldogs will travel to face off against the Winona State Warriors on Friday January 14 at 7:30 PM. They will then travel to face the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Saturday January 15 at 5:30 PM.

For the Record

Coming into the matchup, the Bulldogs are currently 10-4 (8-2)... Winona State comes into this weekend with a 7-7 (4-6) record... Upper Iowa currently has a 2-11 (0-8) record.

Previous Meetings

The Bulldogs have had an edge over the Warriors in recent history as they have won four straight games. The last matchup came last season on January 2 when the Bulldogs won 68-47.

Coming into the matchup with the Peacocks, the Bulldogs have won 8 straight matchups against Upper Iowa dating back to the 2013-14 sea- son. Their last matchup came on February 26, 2020 when the Bulldogs won 81-54.

Scouting the Warriors

Coming into this weekend, Winona State ranks 14th in the conference averaging 63.0 points per game. They also rank 6th in the conference allowing just 64.5 points per game. They are led by Taylor Hustad and Emily Kleck who are averaging 11.0 and 10.8 points per game respectively.

Scouting the Peacocks

The Peacocks come into the matchup tied with UMD for the 9th ranked offense as they are averaging 65.9 points per game. They also have the last ranked defense in the NSIC as they are allowing 71.1 points per game. Lydia Haack leads the Peacocks with 13.9 points per game, which is good for 10th in the conference. The Peacocks' Jessica Musgrave is 13th in the conference averaging 13.7 points per game.

Experienced

The Bulldogs feature a very experienced lineup. Their lineup features 3 fifth years, 3 seniors and 5 juniors. This is a team 6 players with over 50 games played, including a trio of players with over 100 games played. The Bulldogs come into the season with a lot of experience of what it takes to make it through a long season and make it to the conference championship game.

NSIC Preseason Player of the Year

Bulldogs senior forward Brooke Olson was named as they NSIC Pre-season Player of the Year. So far this season, Olson has averaged and NSIC best 18.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. She has also been awarded the North Division Player of the Week once this season.

Two of the NSIC's Best

The matchup between Minnesota Duluth and Upper Iowa will feature three of the best scorers in the conference. The Bulldogs Brooke Olson is currently 2nd in the conference averaging 18.4 points per game while Upper Iowa's Lydia Haack and Jessica Musgrave are 10th and 13th in the conference in scoring.

Defensive Battle

The Bulldogs come into the weekend with the second best scoring defense in the NSIC. The Bulldogs are currently allowing just 56.7 points per game this season. The Bulldogs held the top ranked offense in the conference to just 52 points last weekend.

Preseason Coaches' Poll

Coming into the season, the Bulldogs were picked to repeat as NSIC champions and received 12 first place votes and 222 points overall. Winona State was picked to finish 5th in the South Division and 10th overall in the NSIC. Upper Iowa was picked to finish Last in the South Division and 14th overall in the conference.

Nationally Ranked

Coming into the season, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 18 in the country according to the WBCA preseason coaches poll. The Bulldogs finished last season ranked No. 12 in the country in the WBCA poll. The Bulldogs also earned the No. 15 rank in the D2SIDA preseason poll. Following their first week of games, the Bulldogs jumped up to the No. 15 spot in the country but following two straight losses, the Bulldogs fell out of the top 25. Minnesota State was previously in the top-25 rankings before losing to Concordia St. Paul.

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UMD vs WSU
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UMD vs UI
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