Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team will have its final regular season roadtrip this weekend. The Mavericks will take on a couple of familiar foes from the NSIC South Division in #9 Winona State and Upper Iowa. MSU will first take on WSU in Winona, Minn., at 6:00 p.m., before squaring off with UIU on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa.

Last Weekend: The Mavericks made the trip up to North Dakota this past week and split both of its games between U-Mary and Minot State. MSU first took on U-Mary on Friday and fell, 79-68, before defeating MISU the next night in late-second fashion, 61-60.

On Friday, a couple of late runs from the Marauders helped propel them past the Mavericks. MSU finished the game shooting 40% from the field, while U-Mary finished right behind with 39%. A big difference came from the three-point arc, the Mavericks tallied four made three pointers, compared to the Marauders draining eight. Points off turnovers contributed to the MSU loss as well. U-Mary recorded 15 points off of MSU's 14 turnovers in the game, while the Mavericks tallied eight points off nine Marauders turnovers.

Junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] and sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] each recorded 20 points in the loss, as Ziegler fell just shy of reaching her fifth double-double on the season with nine rebounds and three assists. Junior Sammie Delzotto [Eagan, Minn.] added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Madison Lee [Coon Rapids, Minn.] chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.

On Saturday night against Minot State, Ziegler came in the clutch for the Mavericks as she drained a shot from the block to put the Mavericks up, 61-60, with .9 left on the game clock.

Earlier on in the fourth quarter, MSU was down four to MISU, 52-48, with six minutes remaining, before the Mavericks shifted the momentum in the game as they went on a 7-0 to take a, 55-52, lead with 2:13 left to play.

The game was far from over though, as the Beavers nailed a three-pointer on their next possession to tie the game back up at 55-55. MSU scored the next four points in the game after a layup from freshman Ashley Reed [Whitefish, Bay, Wis.] and a pair of free-throws from Madison Lee. MISU answered right back again scoring five more points on its next time down the court. The Beavers were trying to convert on an "And-1" opportunity and missed the free-throw. However, MISU pulled down the offensive rebound and nailed a three-pointer to go back up, 60-59, with 12 seconds left to play.

After a timeout from MSU, sophomore Claire Jordan [Green Bay, Wis.] drove the lane and missed her shot, before Ziegler's late game heroics put the Mavericks up for good.

Lee led the way for the bench as she set a new career-high 23 points and shot 5-of-11 from the three-point line. Ziegler was the lone other Maverick to reach double figures with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Concerning #9 Winona State: The Warriors sit a top in the NSIC standings as they enter Friday's game with a 23-2 overall record and a 16-2 record in NSIC play. Their two lone conference losses were against Northern State and U-Mary. WSU is coached by Scott Ballard who is in his 12th season at the helm. 

Friday's game will be the 51st all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Warriors dating back to 1969. During that span MSU has built a 36-14 record in series history, however WSU's has the last laugh as it defeated the Mavericks earlier this season at Taylor Center, 74-59. Senior McKenzie Hoelmenn [Lakeville, Minn.] led the Mavericks in the game with 15 points, seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals, while Madison Lee added 14 points and five assists in the loss.

This season the Warriors are getting it done on both sides of the ball. WSU is scoring just over 74 points a game and give up only 54 points a game to its opponents which ranks first in the NISC. The Warriors also own the conferences best scoring margin with +20.6. Shooting wise, WSU ranks first in the NSIC with a 46.1 field-goal percentage and second from three shooting just over 38%. Defensively, opponents are averaging just 34% from the field and just under 28% from beyond the arc, both of which top the conference. WSU also ranks first in the NSIC from the charity stripe with 79%.

On the boards, WSU pulls down 39.2 rebounds per game and its opponents average 34.1 per game, which is second best in the NSIC. The Warriors turn the ball over the least amount in the conference with 11.2 per game and ranks second in both turnover margin with +3.84 and assist/turnover ratio with +1.39.

Four of the Warriors starters are averaging double figures this season. Senior guard Alexis Foley leads the team with 15 points and 3.7 assists per game. Foley ranks 10th in the NSIC in field-goal percentage which is just under 48% and places third from the free-throw line with 84%. Junior center Kayla Timmerman ranks second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds, respectively. Timmerman also leads the team and ranks fifth in the NISC in field-goal percentage with 51% and has also tallied 65 total blocks (2.8 per game) which is a conference best. 

Junior Tara Roelofs, who recorded a game-high 29 points in the first meeting this season between MSU and WSU, is averaging 12.6 points  per game. Rounding out the bunch is senior Connor Nagle who is averaging 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest. Nagle was named NSIC South Division Player of the Week last week. She is also the Warriors three-point specialist as she has made the second most three's in the NSIC this season with 75 and is shooting at a 44% rate which is third best in the conference. 

Concerning Upper Iowa: The Peacocks enter the week with a 5-19 overall record and a 4-14 record in NSIC play. UIU is currently on a five game losing streak. The Peacocks are coached by Carol Russel who is in her sixth season with the program. 

Saturday's matchup will mark as the 18th all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Peacocks. Dating back to 1979, MSU has yet to lose to UIU as the Purple and Gold have built an impressive 17-0 all-time record over the Peacocks. Earlier this season MSU and UIU met at Taylor Center, where the Mavericks defeated the Peacocks, 75-54. Junior Britney Scherber led the way for the Mavericks in the win, as she posted a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Senior McKenzie Hoelmenn also recorded her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

UIU this season is scoring a conference low 59 points per game and is giving up 71.2 points per to game to its opponents. The Peacocks also rank last in the NSIC in both field-goal percentage and field-goal percentage defense with 35% and 45%, respectively. UIU also owns a -1.6 rebounding margin, a -1.88 turnover margin and 6.71 steals per game.

Senior Aleesha Cleaver leads the team with 13.3 points and 34 minutes per game and has made a team-leading 31 made three-pointers this season. Senior Whitney Kieffer is second on the team in scoring with 12 points and leads the Peacocks with 5.5 rebounds per game and 43 total steals. Junior Carly Pagel averages just shy of double-figures with 9.5 points, along with a 5.0 rebounds and a team-leading 13 total blocks.

Off the Bench: Sophomore Madison Lee gave the Mavericks a spark coming off the bench this past weekend. She led MSU in its two games with 16.5 points, 55% shooting from the field and six made three-pointers.  Against U-Mary, Lee added 10 points and four rebounds, before playing a pivotal part in MSU's win over Minot State. Lee set a new career-high of 23 points and made five three's (5-11).

Leading Scorers: Through 22 games, the Mavericks have two players averaging 10 points or more in sophomore Claire Ziegler and junior Britney Scherber. Ziegler leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points a game, while Scherber sits second on the team with 13.5 points a contest. Ziegler currently ranks 12th in the NSIC in scoring and Scherber places in 17th.

Rebounding Attack: Three Mavericks are averaging six or more rebounds a contest through 22 games this season. Sophomore Claire Ziegler leads the team with 8.4 rebounds a game and ranks third in the NSIC. Senior McKenzie Hoelmenn sits second on the team with 6.9 rebounds each game, which places her 14th in the NSIC. Rounding out the trio is junior Karina Schroeder [Lake Crystal, Minn.] as she is averaging 6.2 per contest.

Efficient Shooting: Sophomore forward Claire Ziegler currently places first in the NSIC in field-goal percentage as she is shooting almost 54% from the field (132-246).

At the Charity Stripe: Junior point guard Britney Scherber is shooting 84% from the free-throw line, which ranks her 5th in the NSIC.