THE OPENING TIP
The University of Minnesota Duluh women's basketball team (27-3 overall, 21-1 NSIC) will play host to an NCAA Tournament First Round matchup against Southern Nazarene on Friday, March 10. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.
RUNNING THROUGH ROMANO
The Bulldogs are no stranger to March Madness. Not only is this the 15th time UMD has made the NCAA Tournament overall, but it's the program's fifth-straight appearance in the dance dating back to 2018-19. The Bulldogs have amassed an 8-13 record across all 15 of their postseason efforts.
But this will be the very first time in UMD history, accounting for both the women's and men's programs, that the school will play host to a regional tournament. That's the honor bestowed upon the No. 1 team in each region, a title the Bulldogs earned in the Central. This means that the entire Central Regional (a total of seven games across three rounds) will be played in Romano.
LAST TIME OUT
UMD left absolutely no doubt that it was deserving of such an honor in the Big Dance with the way it took care of business in its kick-off to postseason play: the NSIC Tournament.
The Bulldogs were absolutely dominant in their path to the NSIC Championship game, picking up double-digit victories against Concordia-St. Paul in the quarterfinals (82-55) and Augustana in the semifinals (76-59). And in the title game against Minnesota State back on Feb. 28, UMD started with lights-out play. At one point in the first quarter, the Bulldogs were already up 20 at a score of 26-6. The Mavericks would gradually claw back to make the fame interesting down the stretch, but UMD was able to hold on to secure a 80-74 victory and an NSIC Tournament crown to pair with its regular season trophy.
TOURNAMENT TITANS
UMD's success in the conference-postseason space extends far beyond this year. In fact, the 2023 NSIC Tournament Title was one in a streak of trophies that helped the Bulldogs make a bit of conference history.
This is UMD's third-straight piece of NSIC Tournament hardware. With it, the Bulldogs become the first women's team in conference history to ever three-peat as tourney champs.
ALL-TOURNEY TEAM HONOREES
The accolades just keep on coming. In fact, how about another trifecta?
Brooke Olson took home the honor of NSIC Tournament MVP for her performance across the 2023 bracket. Only fitting, as the graduate forward averaged a tourney-high 29.67 points per game while shooting at a clip of 65.4% that was second-best in that span. With this, the Rice Lake, Wis. native became the first women's player to ever take home postseason MVP honors in three-consecutive seasons.
Two other Bulldogs joined Olson on the All-Tournament Team, both making their first appearances on the squad in their careers. Maesyn Thiesen earned the accolade by way of an average assists mark of 5.67 that landed her at a tie for fourth across the entire tournament field. Really, though, the graduate guard was more of an overall Swiss Army Knife. Thiesen also continued her season-long rebounding prowess in the tournament, snagging 14 across three games. And on the championship stage, the Sauk Centre, Minn. native showed out offensively, too, potting 11 points. Ella Gilbertson staked her claim to a spot on the squad by scoring double-digits in both the semifinals and championship, shooting 11-19 in the process. The junior guard also grabbed 11 boards and dished out seven assists across the tournament.
STATS STATUS REPORT
Olson enters the tournament as UMD's leading scorer, averaging a clip of 22.1 points per game that's good for sixth in the entire country. Better yet, the graduate forward is doing all that scoring at an efficiency clip of 56.1% from the field that lands her at 18th in the nation. Olson also leads the squad in average assists with seven. Gilbertson is the other Bulldog to average double-digits heading into March, scoring 10.1 points per game while shooting 40.4% from deep in the process. Thiesen's done a bit of everything, averaging 7.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and a team-leading 3.73 assists per contest.
As a unit, UMD continues to flex its core strengths on a national stage. The Bulldogs are 12th in the country in scoring defense (allowing just 55.9 points a game) all while scoring at a field goal percentage of 47.7% that's fourth in the nation.
ALL-NSIC NODS
With all of the above information in mind, this next section shouldn't be too much of a shock.
Before the start of NSIC Tournament play, Olson was crowned the Player of the Year for the conference's North Division. It's the fourth time in a row the graduate forward's taken home the honor, something no NSIC basketball player had ever accomplished before her.
Maesyn Thiesen also took home conference recognition, landing on the All-NSIC Second Team. It's the first time that the graduate guard has landed on an All-Conference squad, an honor befitting of what has been a storied five-season career within the NSIC ranks.
At the forefront of the entire operation has been UMD head coach Mandy Pearson, who, for her efforts, was crowned the NSIC Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. Pearson's already secured her fourth 20-win season in eight years with UMD. In this 2022-23 campaign, Pearson crossed the 100-win mark in NSIC competition, closing the year with 118.
SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHERN NAZARENE
THE GAC'S GREATEST…
Southern Nazarene may enter the NCAA Tournament as the Central Region's No. 8 seed, but don't be fooled- this is one special bunch.
The Storm head into March having won the Great American Conference (GAC) with a 21-1 conference mark that was the foundation of a 27-4 overall record.
…EVEN ON TOURNAMENT TIME
And SNU's success sure didn't stop come GAC Tournament time.
The Storm slashed through their conference tournament slate, winning each of their three postseason contests by double digits. This included a 57-46 win against Harding (who finished second in the conference with a 19-3 mark) for the GAC Tournament crown back on March 5.
STORM SURGE
SNU sure has done a lot of winning- and it only gets more impressive the more ways you look at it.
The Storm's three-game tear through the GAC Tournament were just three wins in what's grown to be a 17-game streak of victories for the squad. This is a group that hasn't lost a contest since losing at Harding 75-65 back on Jan. 14. It's a loss SNU avenged by beating the Bison twice the rest of the way, including in the GAC Championship.
DO YOU GET DEJA VU?
Strangely enough, when you look at its national standings in the stats world, this SNU team shares strong commonalities with UMD.
For example, the Storm are no strangers to defense in their own right. SNU is 26th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 57.3 points a game. And when it comes to scoring the ball, this team also knows how to do it with efficiency. The Storm are 28th in the nation in field goal percentage, operating at a clip of 43.9%.
It's a formula UMD's driven all the way to the top spot in the Central Region. Friday will determine whether or not the Bulldogs can maneuver around it themselves.
THE STORM'S SCORING PODIUM
Three SNU players head into March averaging double-figures in scoring. At the top of the charts is Georgia Adams, who's averaging 14.8 points a game while grabbing 5.2 rebounds a contest, too. Right behind Adams is Cassandra Awatt, who's scoring 13.2 points a night along with being the team's leading rebounder with 8.9 boards a night. At third in the scoring race is a player that essentially operates as her own storm-cell: Hannah Giddey. The junior forward doesn't just average 12.5 points a game on 58% shooting. A 7.9 rebounds per contest mark also doesn't complete the list. Neither does a team-leading 3.78 assists a game. Nope- Giddey does all of that while leading the entire nation in average blocks with a whopping 2.97 rejections a game.
It was this trio that ultimately landed on the all-tournament team for SNU following its championship victory. Giddey stood as the tournament's overall MVP, averaging 20.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.3 blocks. Talk about showing up on a big stage.
HE MAY BE ONTO SOMETHING
At the bench for this successful 2022-23 campaign has been Trent May. An SNU graduate himself, May's in the midst of his fifth winning season at the helm of the Storm. It's already the coach's second-straight 20-win effort, a nice accolade to pair with the second GAC Tournament Championship of his tenure with his alma mater. These are the only two conference tourney titles in the program's history.
THE MATCHUP
This will be just the second time UMD has ever met SNU in the NCAA Tournament- and the first time in the new millennium. You'd have to look back to the 1993 tourney to find the last meeting between these two programs, a second round contest the Storm ended up taking 72-61.
THE BROADCAST
Can't make it to Romano? No worries! Catch the tournament action live free-of-charge through the NSIC Network by following the link below:
vs Southern Nazarene (Friday, March 10 @ 5:00 p.m.): bit.ly/3ZEciks
REGIONAL INFO
For all of your Central Regional information needs, including full team information, a complete schedule and parking locations, visit the dedicated website at this link: bit.ly/3kUfoBI
