The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team faces its final Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) opponents of 2025 inside Romano Gymnasium against Minot State University and the University of Mary. The match against Minot State is set for a tipoff of 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, with UMary to follow on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
 
5-0 NSIC START: Through five matches, UMD currently sits atop the North Division with victories against Bemidji State (74-63), Minnesota Crookston (76-54), MSU Moorhead (73-69), Northern State (69-63), and Jamestown (82-36). They are the last undefeated team in the NSIC North Division, with UMary following in second with a 4-1 record. The only other undefeated team is Minnesota State Mankato who is the favorite to win the NSIC South Division.
 
NSIC LEADERS: The team holds fifth in the conference for scoring offense (74.0 avg/g), second in scoring margin (11.3), first in scoring defense (62.7 avg/g), fifth in field goal percentage (43.8%), fifth in opponent field goal percentage (39.7%), first in opponent three-point field goal percentage (26.8%), first in free throw percentage (81.3%), fourth in opponent free throw percentage (77.4%), fourth in turnover margin (2.33), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.13), second in blocked shots (4.00 avg/g), and fifth in assists (15.11 avg/g). Individually, Lexi Karge leads the NSIC in free throw percentage (95.8%).
 
FIRST NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Claire Bjorge earned both her career's first NSIC North Division Player of the Week award and the team's first of the 2025-26 season. Bjorge earns the selection after scoring a career high and team-leading 25 points in the victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston (76-54). In that effort, she shot an impressive 66.7% (10-15) from the field. Throughout the week, she averaged 21 points and seven rebounds in two conference wins. In the second matchup, she added another 17 points in the 73-69 win over Minnesota State University Moorhead.
 
HEAD COACH MANDY PEARSON 11TH SEASON: Since taking over the program in 2015, she has led the team to five NCAA II Tournament births, three of which happened back-to-back, with one going all the way to the Championship in the 2022-23 season. Pearson has an overall record of 185-96 with 140-67 in conference play and three NSIC regular-season champion finishes.
 
SIX AND BULLDOG: The Bulldogs shattered the No. 15 (WBCA) ranked Northern Michigan Wildcats in a stunning 85-70 victory on their home court. 
 
Entering the matchup, the Wildcats were on an unbeaten six-game win streak to start the season. That is, until the Bulldogs came to town. In another double-digit point game for four UMD athletes, Claire Bjorge led the way with 20 points, with Myra Moorjani and Lexi Karge following one point behind. Grace Counts put up an 11-point game for the top four UMD scorers to combine for 69 points of 85 total. Karge also led the Bulldogs with eight rebounds to keep the ball out of the Wildcats' hands.
 
In all, UMD shot 56.9% in field goals, 56.3% from beyond the arc, and 85.7% from the free throw line. Overall, the team combined for season highs in points, field goals made, and free throws made.
 
LAST MATCH: UMD doubled the score over the University of Jamestown in their first historic NSIC matchup in 82-36 fashion.
 
Leading the effort was Lexi Karge, who earned 16 points, four rebounds, and one steal with an 87.5% (7-8) from the field. Following close behind was Maria Counts with 11 points and an 80% (4-5) from the field and 75% (3-4) from the three-point line. Leading the defensive effort was Ashley Fritz with a team-leading five steals.
 
The first quarter saw the Bulldogs jump out to a colossal 22-6 lead off the efforts of Lexi Karge, Counts, Myra Moorjani, Vanessa Bickford, Drew Johnston, and Fritz. In that time, UMD was shooting 60% (9-15) from the field and 44.4% (4-9) from beyond the arc.
 
Jamestown continued to struggle under the offensive might of the Bulldogs as the team again doubled the scoring effort on an 18-9 run over the course of the quarter. This effort was headlined by Karge with eight points in the dominant 40-15 score before the halftime break.
 
With a  25-point lead, UMD continued to expand the gap in the third quarter as Moorjani, Counts, Fritz, Johnston, Bjorge, Lexi Karlen, Karge, and Karly Jusczak combined to outscore the Jimmies 26 to five to force a 66-20 lead into the final 10 minutes. The team eased up on defense, allowing the Jimmies to score 16 points, but offensively kept pace with their own 16 points to seal up the match 82-36.
 
Overall, the team shot 53.3% (32-60) from the field, 44.4% (12-27) from beyond the arc, and 66.7% (6-9) from the free throw line. The team outscored Jamestown in every category while outrebounding them by 46 to 28. Jusczak led the rebounding effort with seven total rebounds (three offensive).
 
MORE ON THE BEAVERS: Since 2013 the Bulldogs have an 17-6 record with MSU, losing the last two matchups by a combined score of 102-124. UMD's last victory came at home in 2024 in a 54-50 win.
 
MSU's top scorer is Taryn Hamling who has earned 192 points this season (16.0 avg/g). She is currently shooting 42.9% (65-155) from the field and 37.6% (38-101) beyond the arc.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST MSU: After falling behind 3-0 to open the afternoon, UMD went on an 8-0 run with 8:07 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Karge, to take an 8-3 lead. The Bulldogs maintained that lead and entered the quarter break with a 19-14 advantage. UMD relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 19 points.
 
UMD kept its first quarter lead intact before collecting five unanswered points starting at the 3:59 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Moorjani, to increase its lead to 37-29, a score that would hold until halftime. The Bulldogs forced four Beaver turnovers in the period and turned them into six points.
 
UMD then lost its advantage in the third quarter, struggling to score throughout the period and trailed the Beavers 43-37 entering the fourth.
 
The Bulldogs could not pull any closer in the fourth, losing by a final of 58-48. UMD took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring six of its 11 points in the paint.
 
Johanna Miller led the Bulldogs with nine points, 14 rebounds and two blocks. Myra Moorjani also added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists and Lexi Karge helped out with nine points.
 
The UMD defense held Beaver shooters to just 33.3% from the field, including 26.3% from three-point range. The Bulldogs also kept Sydney Gustavsson to 1-of-13 shooting and two points in the game. MSU did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only seven offensive rebounds and scored eight second chance points while UMD pulled down 35 defensive rebounds.

A LOOK AT THE MARAUDERS: UMary holds the advantage since 103 with a 14-9 record over the Bulldogs. The Marauders have dealt UMD losses in the last five matchups with a combined score of 375-312. 

The UMary offense is led by Bergan Kinnebrew with 262 points (23.8 avg) who earned a North Division Player of the Week selection in week one. Alongside her is Allison Undlin who earned this weeks North Division Player of the Week award averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds last week. She also shot 59.1% (17-29) from the field and leads the NSIC in blocks per game (2.5).

LAST TIME OUT AGAINST UMARY: UMD kept it close in the first quarter, but entered the second frame down 11-10. The Bulldogs continued to lose ground in the second quarter, narrowly getting out-scored 12-11 in the period to face a 23-21 halftime deficit.
 
UMD's deficit continued to grow after halftime, and the Bulldogs faced a 40-27 disadvantage heading to the fourth quarter and could not pull any closer in the final period, losing by a final of 64-43. UMD took advantage of its opportunities in the post throughout the fourth, scoring eight of its 16 points in the paint.
 
The Bulldogs had two players score in double figures, led by Johanna Miller, who had 22 points, two steals and two blocks. Lexi Karge tacked on 12 points and Maria Counts added four points and six rebounds. Miller and Karge combined to score 34 total points, 79.1% of UMD's points Miller pulled down two offensive rebounds to pace an offense that racked up 13 second chance opportunities for UMD and turned them into three second chance points.
 
The Bulldog defense held Mary shooters to only 35.6% from the field, including 26.3% from three-point range.
 
NSIC REVIVES NORTH/SOUTH DIVISION: With the reformation of the North and South Divisions, the University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team has been selected to finish third in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) North Division, with Lexi Karge selected as the Player to Watch for the Bulldogs.
 
In the NSIC's annual preseason poll, UMD has been selected to finish third in the North Division, receiving 37 points. They fall behind the University of Mary in second (42 points) and Minnesota State University Moorhead in first (43 points). Overall, the team ranks middle of the pack in eighth with 139 points to fall one point behind MSUM, University of Mary in sixth (152), St. Cloud State University in fifth (155), and Southwestern Minnesota State University in fourth (172). Concordia University St. Paul splits second with the University of Sioux Falls (202), with Minnesota State University Mankato out ahead (215). 
 
The North Division has seen the Bulldogs finish first in the last four seasons from 2019-2023. The season prior, they managed a second-place finish. The conference spent the last two seasons with a single division structure where the maroon and gold settled for a combined 22-22 record in NSIC competition.
 
Senior forward Lexi Karge has been tapped as the NSIC's Bulldog Player to Watch after averaging a team-second high 11 points per game last season. She was also second on the team in average of rebounds per game (6.1), blocked shots (21), field goals made (126), and free throws made (41).