MANKATO, Minn.   —  The Minnesota State women’s basketball team (22-4, 18-4 NSIC) earned the second-seed in the NSIC South Division as well as a second place regular season finish in the NSIC under first year head coach Emilee Thiesse. The Mavericks will host seventh-seeded Bemidji State in Taylor Center, Wednesday, Febrauary 27, tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.

Looking Back: The Mavericks extended their win-streak to 11 games as they downed the University of Sioux Falls, 84-67 in Taylor Center Friday night and followed it up with an 80-62 win over Southwest Minnesota State, Saturday to finish the 2012-13 regular season with a mark of 22-4 overall and 18-4 in the NSIC. The Mavericks were led by junior forward Ali Wilkinson who finished the weekend with 32 points, and seven rebounds and connected on 11-of-17 (65%) of her shots from the field and 9-of-10 (90%) from the charity stripe. Collectively MSU connected 59-of-119 (49%) of its shots from the field and forced the Cougars and Mustangs to commit a combined 48 turnovers while the Mavericks only tallied 25 turnovers in the two contests.

A Little on the Beavers:  The Bemidji State women’s basketball team enters the NSIC Tournament on a two-game skid, as it fell to Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State in Bemidji this past weekend by scores of 85-56 and 73-48 respectively, falling to 11-15 overall and 7-15 on the circuit. The Mavericks hosted the Beavers on Feb. 8, in Taylor Center where MSU earned the 69-59 win over BSU. Mike Curfman is in his eighth season at the helm of the program and has led the Beavers to a 73-124 overall record. Junior guard Morgan Lee leads the charge for the Beavers, she is averaging 13.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Digging a Little Deeper: BSU is led by junior guard Morgan Lee who is averaging 13.5 points per contest. In their previous match-up the Mavericks downed the Beavers 69-59. Minnesota State used a balanced attack to down the Beavers as 9-of-10 Mavericks who saw action netted points, paced by the junior tandem of Karlee Gengenbacher and Steffaney Thomas who each contributed 13 points. Junior Allie Hoefer netted 12 points and sophomore Aubrey Davis finished the game with 10 points. Junior center Kate Warmack paced the Beavers with 19 points.

Proud Programs: The Minnesota State men’s and women’s basketball programs during the 2012-13 regular season combined for an overall record of 44-8. The Mavericks proved to have a potent athletic attack, as the two programs combined for one, 100+ point game, four, 90-99 point games and 18, 80-89 point games. The Mavericks women’s basketball team finished the regular season with the second best scoring offense in the league (76.5 points per game) and posted the best shooting percentage on the circuit, connecting on 44% of their shots from the field during the 2012-13 regular seaon.

We’re Going Streaking!: The Mavericks will enter the 2012-13 postseason on an 11 game win-streak, the longest of the season. The Mavericks started the season 7-0, hit a rough patch going 4-4, but returned to their winning ways going 11-0 in their past 11 contests. MSU is currently 13-0 at home this season.

Effectively Efficent: Minnesota State has shot the ball efficiently for duration of the 2012-13 campaign, The Mavericks ranked second in the NSIC in scoring, averaging 76.5 point per game, which is the ninth-best average in the country. MSU connected on 44% of its shots from the floor, which is the best percentage in the league and ranks 18th in the nation. The Mavericks posted the best turnover margin in the NSIC, owning a +6.46 turnover margin through 26 games which is also ranked ninth-best in the nation. Junior forward Ali Wilkinson is currently connecting on 56.8% of her shots from the floor which is the seventh-best shooting percentage in the nation and sophomore guard Aubrey Davis is connecting on 43.1% of her shots from behind the arc, which is the sixth-best shooting percentage from downtown in the nation.

Join the Club!: Junior forward Ali Wilkinson netted her 1,000 career- point against Winona State making her the 20th student-athlete to reach 1,000 career-points in program history Lisa Walters (1984-’88) holds the program’s scoring record, she tallied 2,072 points.

Moving On Up: The Minnesota State University women’s basketball was ranked No. 21 in the latest edition of the USA Today Top-25 Coaches Poll released on Feb. 19. The Mavericks have been ranked as high as No. 20 during the 2012-13 campaign.

Tremendous Turnovers: Through 26 games this season the Mavericks have turned the ball over 403 times, compared to 572 by their opponents, owning a +169 margin in the turnover column. In Taylor Center the Mavericks own a +146 turnover ratio and have committed 189 turnovers compared to 298 by their opponents.

Earning it from the Stripe: The Mavericks finished the first half against Minnesota Duluth 1-of-5 (20%) from the charity stripe, since then MSU has converted on 177-of-234 (73%) of its shots from the free-throw line over a ten and a half game span.

In the Polls: The Minnesota State University women’s basketball team has received some love in the USA Today Division II Top-25 coaches poll. The Mavericks started receiving votes in the week one poll and have been ranked as high as No. 20. MSU is ranked No. 21 in the latest edition of the poll.

Week        Pos. (Votes)
Preseason    -
Week 1        RV (10)
Week 2        RV (27)
Week 3        RV (39)
Week 4        RV (95)
Week 5        RV (88)
Week 6        24
Week 7        20
Week 8        RV (19)
Week 9        RV (20)
Week 10      RV (23)
Week 11      25
Week 12      21

High-Powered Match-Up: The Minnesota State University women’s basketball team is currently ranked second in the NSIC in scoring offense, averaging 76.5 points per contest, the Mavericks are ranked 9th in the nation in the same category. Glenville State leads the nation in scoring, averaging 96.6 points per game.

It’s Good!: The Mavericks have been shooting the ball efficiently during the 2012-13 campaign, as they are leading the NSIC in field goal percentage converting on 43.7% of their shots from the floor, MSU currently sits 18th in the nation in field goal percentage.

Balanced Attack: The Minnesota State women’s basketball team is currently second in the conference in scoring average, averaging 76 points per contest, and junior Ali Wilkinson is fourth  in the league in scoring, averaging 17.5 points per contest, but there are no Mavericks in the top-30 in the conference in minutes played.

League Honors: Junior Ali Wilkinson was named the NSIC Player of the Week Dec. 10 for her efforts against Winona State and Upper Iowa helping the Mavericks to an overall record of 6-0 and a mark of 3-0 in league play. Wilkinson posted 55 points and hauled in 27 rebounds while converting on 19-31 (61%) of her shots from the field and recorded seven assists, seven steals, two blocks and only committed one turnover in the two contests.

Starting Strong: The Purple and Gold started the 2012-13 campaign with a mark of 7-0 before falling to the University of Sioux Falls, Dec. 15. The 7-0 start marked  the best starting mark since the 2008-09 season when the Mavericks started 17-0, MSU went on to win a national title during that campaign.

20-Something: Among active players, there have been 14, 20-point games. Junior forward Ali Wilkinson leads the way with eleven.

20-Point Games by Active Mavericks
2/22/13 Ali Wilkinson vs. Sioux Falls 22 points
2/9/13 Ali Wilkinson vs. Minnesota,Crookston 25 points
2/2/13 Karlee Gengenbacher vs. Minot State 20 points
1/26/13 Ali Wilkinson vs. Augustana 22 points
1/15/13 Ali Wilkinson vs. Concordia-St. Paul 23 points
1/12/13 Aubrey Davis vs. MSU Moorhead 23 points
1/4/13 Ali Wilkinson vs. Augustana 35 points
12/19/12 Ali Wilkinson vs. Dakota State 27 points
12/14/12 Karlee Gengenbacher vs. SW Minnesota State 22 points
12/8/12 Ali Wilkinson vs. Upper Iowa 24 points
12/7/12 Ali Wilkinson vs. Winona State 31 points
12/1/12 Ali Wilkinson vs. Concordia-St. Paul 22 points
2/11/12 Aubrey Davis at Concordia-St. Paul 22 points
1/29/11 Ali Wilkinson vs. Upper Iowa 20 points
1/15/11 Ali Wilkinson at University of Mary 20 points

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