The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team is set to face Minnesota State University Moorhead for the second time this season in its senior class send-off and last regular-season matchup. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. against MSUM inside Romano Gymnasium.

ONE MATCH REMAINS: With one game remaining, the Bulldogs stand atop the North Division with UMary trailing by one loss. Overall, UMD trails the undefeated Minnesota State University Mankato, which has an 18-0 record as the South Division leader and overall NSIC champion.
 
The NSIC Basketball Tournament is a twelve-team tournament and will be seeded using overall conference win percentage. 
 
KARGE EARNS 1,000 CAREER POINTS: Senior forward Lexi Karge joined the 1,000 career points club off a five-point effort against the University of Minnesota Crookston. She is the first Bulldog to hit that mark since Brooke Olson in the 2020-21 season.
 
HEAD COACH MANDY PEARSON HITS 300 CAREER WINS AND 200 BULLDOG VICTORIES: With the victory over St. Cloud State, it marked head coach Mandy Pearson's 300^th career coaching victory, who has been at the helm of the program since 2015. Two weeks later, she marked her 200th UMD coaching victory with the win over Wayne State.
 
Since taking over the program in 2015, she has led the team to five NCAA II Tournament berths, 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.
 
10-0 NSIC START: Through the first ten matches, UMD dominated with ten straight wins with victories against Bemidji State (74-63), Minnesota Crookston (76-54), MSU Moorhead (73-69), Northern State (69-63), Jamestown (82-36), Minot State (83-69), UMary (80-65), Bemidji State (78-50), Sioux Falls (57-42), and SMSU (69-65). This came before falling narrowly to the only undefeated team in the NSIC, #2 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 (71.9), third for scoring margin (9.1), first in scoring defense (62.8 avg/g), fifth in field goal percentage (43.8%), third in opponent field goal percentage (39.8%), fifth in three-point field goals (7.5), third in opponent three-point field goals (29.5%), third in turnover margin (2.84), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.17), fourth in blocked shots (3.84 avg/g), and fifth in assists (14.96).
 
Individually, Myra Moorjani ranks fifth in three-point field goal percentage (37.5%) and third in three pointers per game (2.3). Lexi Karge also ranks fifth in blocked shots (1.1 avg/g).
 
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 earned 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.
 
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 overcame a low shooting accuracy in the first quarter to trounce the University of Minnesota Crookston 71-51 in their final regular-season road matchup of the season.
 
With the win, UMD stands atop the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) North Division by two wins with one home matchup to go, but the University of Mary still has two games to play later this week with the chance to split the title.
 
Leading the victory for the Bulldogs was Claire Bjorge with 20 points, two steals, six assists, and one rebound. She hit 60% (9-15) from the field and 66.7% (2-3) from the free-throw line.
 
The first quarter saw both teams struggle shooting as the Bulldogs hit a low 23.1% (3-13) from the field and none (0-7) from beyond the arc, with the Golden Eagles earning 23.5% (4-17) and 20% (1-5) beyond the arc. Both teams settled for an even nine points by the end of the first quarter.
 
UMD finally broke free from Minnesota Crookston after Karly Jusczak led the Bulldogs on a 15-6 run with 10 points. With a 24-15 lead and five minutes before the halftime break, Ashley Fritz (3), Myra Moorjani (3), Grace Counts (2), and Bjorge (2) combined for a 10-point run to force a 34-21 lead into halftime.
 
The dominance continued entering the third quarter as the Bulldogs climbed to a 21-point lead off the effort of Bjorge (6), Maria Counts (3), Moorjani (2), and Lexi Karge (2). With a 47-26 lead and under five minutes to go, the Bulldogs eased up with only a 10-8 scoring run to expand marginally to a 57-36 lead into the final quarter.
 
The final 10 minutes saw the Bulldogs hold off the Golden Eagles on a 15-14 final effort with Bjorge (5), Fritz (3), Moorjani (2), Vanessa Bickford (2), and Jusczak (2), forcing the 71-51 score.
 
Overall, the Bulldogs hit 49.1% (27-55) from the field, 21.7% (5-23) beyond the arc, and 85.7% (12-14) from the free throw line.
 
EARLIER AGAINST MSUM: UMD earned an unbeaten three-win start to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) competition after holding off Minnesota State University Moorhead in overtime, 73-69.
 
Leading the charge for the Bulldogs was Claire Bjorge with 17 points. She also tallied eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal while shooting 55.6% (5-9) from the free throw line. Grace Counts was the next highest scorer with 14 points, while Vanessa Bickford followed with 10.
 
The first quarter saw Lexi Karge break through for the first layup of the match, 21 seconds in.  After that, the Dragons tied it up on an unanswered five-point run. UMD regained the lead for the remainder of the quarter (eight minutes) off the efforts of Grace Counts, Myra Moorjani, Reagan Krueger, Bjorge, Vanessa Bickford, and Maria Counts to hold a 16-13 advantage into the second quarter.
 
The first four minutes saw an even 7-7 scoring run, holding the Bulldog lead at 23-20. A defensive battle began as the next score did not come until 3:53 remained when Bickford connected with Counts for a three-point shot to earn a 26-20 lead. For the remainder of the quarter, the Dragons narrowly outscored the Bulldogs five to four to leave the score at 30-25 into the halftime break.
 
Coming out of the break, the Bulldogs used their 47.37% accuracy from the field to fire ahead to a 13-point lead by the end of the third quarter. Entering the fourth quarter with a 51-38 lead, the Dragons would continually chip away at the Bulldogs until a gap of three points existed with 4:39 remaining. The Bulldogs in that time only scored four points between Bjorge and Karge to allow the Dragons back in at 55-52. The final three minutes of regulation saw MSUM claw ahead for the first time since the first quarter, with Karge and Bjorge again being the only scorers for UMD. Regulation would end at 61-61 to force a five-minute overtime.
 
In response, Fritz forced a layup 19 seconds in to give the Bulldogs the lead for the duration. Moorjani, Bickford, and Bjorge combined for 10 points to hold off the Dragons' eight points to win the match in overtime 73-69.
 
Overall, the team shot 37.5% (27-72) from the field, 16.7% (4-24) beyond the arc, and 75% (15-20) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs forced more points in the paint (40) and points off turnovers (26) than the Dragons, with 26 (points in the paint) and 16 (points off turnovers). UMD was able to overcome being outrebounded by MSUM on both sides of the court, with 33 total rebounds to their 48. Karge led the team in rebounds with nine (four offensive).
 
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).