With both teams coming off of trips through the NCAA tournament, the University of Minnesota Duluth Basketball programs finalize their 2023-24 schedules, including 11 double header dates at home in Romano Gymnasium. Head Coaches Justin Wieck (6th season with UMD) and Mandy Pearson (8th season with UMD) are primed to lead their teams to similar success that they have seen in previous seasons.
Non-Conference Matchups
After an exhibition game with UW Eau Claire (Nov.1) to jump start their season, UMD Men's Basketball will return to the GAC/NSIC Crossover Classic for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They will take on Oklahoma Baptist University (Nov. 10) and East Central University (Nov. 11) before heading to the 2023 Haribo Invitational, where they will go head to head with the University of Wisconsin Parkside (Nov. 17) and Davenport University (Nov. 18).
Coming off of their second place performance in the NCAA DII National Championship, UMD Women's Basketball starts off their 2023-24 season with a series of exhibition games against opponents that they have yet to see in their program history. They will take on opponents such as Lakehead University (Oct. 22), and South Dakota State University (Nov. 1). They will make a few more preseason pit stops to take on the University of Wisconsin Parkside (Nov. 12) and Thomas More University (Nov. 11) before launching into their conference schedule.
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Play
Wayne State College (NE) will serve as the first conference matchup for UMD Men's basketball in the 2023-24 season on December 1, a familiar matchup that the program has only lost to once since being under the tenure of Coach Wieck. Throughout the season, the team will face the same opponents that they met in last year's NSIC tournament, squaring off against Minnesota State Mankato twice and Northern State and MSU Moorhead once each.
UMD and Mankato met in the opening round of last year's tournament after only facing each other once through the regular season. This matchup ended in a Bulldog victory, with UMD knocking off Mankato with a 20 point margin of 88-68. They would go onto face off against Northern State in the semifinal round of the tournament, again ending in a Bulldog victory and a shot at the conference championship. UMD would fall in the championship to MSU Moorhead with a score of 69-79, but would secure a NCAA tournament berth with their performance.
Mankato has the pleasure of being the first conference matchup for UMD Women's basketball in their 2023-24 season on November 21, a matchup that the program has won 11 times out of the 14 times they have played each other under Coach Pearson. These two teams have a long history of playoff matchups with each other, facing each other twice in a playoff tournament setting just last year. UMD defeated Mankato in the NSIC championship last year, and defeated them again in the semifinal round of the NCAA Central Region championship.
UMD Women's basketball will also meet up against their two other opponents from last year's conference tournament, facing off against Concordia St. Paul once and Augustana twice. UMD last played Concordia St. Paul in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC tournament, ending in an almost 30 point win for UMD of 82-55. UMD would go on to face Augustana in the semifinal round of the conference tournament, and defeat the Vikings by an almost 20 point margin of 76-59.
Single game tickets for UMD Men's and Women's Basketball go on sale on October 17, 2023.
