MANKATO, Minn. --- The No. 17 Minnesota State women's basketball team will tip-off the 2013-14 conference schedule as it travels up Highway 169 to do battle with travel partner and conference foe, Concordia-St. Paul. The Mavericks improved to 3-1 on the season with a pair of wins over Metro State and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs this past weekend at the Metro State Classic held in Denver, Colo.
The Mavericks opened the classic with a 75-63 win over Metro State. MSU held a four point lead, 34-30 going into intermission, and outscored the Roadrunners 41-33 in the final frame to claim the 12 point victory.
MSU held Metro State to a 33% shooting performance from the field, 18% from behind the arc, and forced 20 Roadrunner turnovers while tallying 14 steals. The Mavericks didn't have their strongest shooting performance either, as they connected on 45% of their shots from the field, but were only able to connect of 1-of-10 of their shots from behind the arc.
There were two Mavericks to reach the 20 point threshold as the senior duo of Ali Wilkinson (Blue Mounds, Wis.) and Karlee Gengenbacher (Quincy, Ill.) finished with 24 points and 20 points, respectively. Wilkinson also hauled in 12 rebounds, posting her 27th career double-double.
Saturday, MSU posted an 87-68 win over the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. The Mavericks were able to tickle the twine from behind the arc, as they connected on 10-of-22 (46%) of their shots from behind the arc, while knocking down 30-of-70 (43%) of their shots from the field and for the second consecutive game forced their opponent to commit 20 turnovers.
MSU used a balanced scoring attack to overcome the Mountain Lions as 12 different Mavericks found their way into the scoring column led by Wilkinson who recorded 16 points, Gengenbacher contributed 13 and junior Jamie Bresnahan (Edina, Minn.) tallied 12 points and nine rebounds.
Scouting the Golden Bears: Concordia-St. Paul was picked as the preseason favorite in the South Division as well as the NSIC Coaches Poll. CU enters the league play sporting a 4-2 record as its two losses came to ranked opponents. The Golden Bears fell to No. 5 Emporia State (71-52), and No 21. Michigan Tech (83-82), and their four wins were against Cal State East Bay (73-61), Pittsburg State (68-62), Wisconsin-Parkside (73-53), and most recently Jamestown University (74-57).
CU is coached by Paul Fessler, who is in his 14th season at the helm of the Golden Bear basketball program and currently boasts a 282-120 career record at CU. The Golden Bears are led by junior Anika Whiting who is averaging 16.7 points and six rebounds per contest. Whiting was picked as the NSIC South Division Preseason Player of the Year.
As a unit, the Golden Bears are connecting on 39% of their shots from the field and 37% from behind the arc. CU is averaging just over 70 points per game and owns a +6 points per game margin.
In the Polls: The Minnesota State University women's basketball team jumped seven spots to No. 17 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top-25 Poll released Tuesday, the Mavericks finished the 2012-13 campaign ranked No. 17, which was a season-high.
Week Pos. (1st Place Votes)
Preseason 23
Week 1 24
Week 2 17
Opening the Circuit: Minnesota State is 3-2 all-time in its NSIC openers. The Mavericks defeated Southwest Minnesota State by scores of 74-63 and 74-62 in 2008-09 and 2009-10, MSU fell to Wayne State in its 2010-11 and 2011-12 conference openers by scores of 80-49 and 78-60, but last season opened league play with an 85-66 win over Concordia-St. Paul
Preseason Prognosis: The Mavericks were picked to finish second in both the NSIC South Division and the overall NSIC poll. MSU received five first-place votes and finished only three points behind Concordia-St. Paul in the coaches' preseason poll.
Effectively Efficient: Minnesota State picked up right where it left off a season ago, connecting on 48% of its shots from the field, and 43% from behind the arc in the first four contests of the 2013-14 season. The Mavericks are currently first in the NSIC in scoring average, averaging 92.2 points per game, first in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 43% (34-79) of their shots from behind the arc, and boast the leagues second-best turnover margin (+9.25).
We're Going Streaking!: The Mavericks are currently riding a program-best 18-game winning streak in Taylor Center. A streak dating back to Feb. 18, 2012. During the 2012-13 campaign MSU went a perfect 15-0 at home, improving its record to 114-68 (.626) all-time in Taylor Center.
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