Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team will begin NSIC play at Taylor Center this weekend. On Friday the Mavericks will host Augustana at 6 p.m., before MSU entertains #2 Wayne State on Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Mavericks stand at 3-2 overall on the season after this past weekend's lone game against Michigan Tech on the road. Minnesota State fell to the Huskies on Saturday, 70-61. Senior forward Lexie Ulfers notched career-high's in the game, posting 18 points and nine rebounds.  Junior center McKenzie Hoelmenn also recorded some career-highs against Michigan Tech as she tallied 11 points and six rebounds.
 
Scouting the Vikings: Augustana comes into the game with a 6-2 overall record and 0-1 NSIC record. The Vikings are coached by Dave Krauth, who is in his 26th season at the helm. This matchup will mark the 68 meeting between the two schools in program history.

The Vikings currently rank second in the NSIC with scoring offense, as they are averaging 83.3 points a clip. Augie also ranks a top of the conference in turnover margin and steals. The Vikings are averaging a +11 turnover margin and have racked up 115 total steals with an average of 14.38 a game.

Augie is led by senior guard Shaunteva Ashely, as she is leading the team in scoring, rebounds and assists this year. She is averaging 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game. The 2013-14 first-team All-NSIC player is leading the NSIC in scoring average, asissts a game and assist/turnover ratio. 

Some other key players for the Vikings are junior guard Sophie Kenney and a pair of redshirt freshmen in Logan O'Farrell and Allie Koehn. Kenney is avergaing 10 points, three assists and 2.3 rebounds a game, to go along with her 23 total steals. O'Farrell is averaging 9.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists to go along with her team-high 24 steals, whereas Koehn is averaging 9.8 points a clip and leads the team in three-point percentage with 42%.

Scouting the Wildcats: #2 Wayne State comes into the week with a 7-0 overall record and a 1-0 record in NSIC play. The Wildcats are coached by Chris Kielsmeier who is currently in his seventh season on the job. Saturday's matchup will mark the 18th  time the two teams have played each other. 

The Wildcats currently rank first in the NSIC in scoring offense (84.6), scoring margin (+37.3)  and field goal percentage (50%). WSC also ranks second in the conference in scoring defense (47.3), field  goal percentage defense (29%) and three-point field goals made per game (8.6).

On the year, WSC has four players averaging double-digits in points per game. Leading the way is senior forward in Jordan Spencer, who is averaging team-highs with 17 points and 8.1 rebounds. Next up are a pair of seniors in forward Millie Niggeling and guard Ashton Yossi. Niggeling is averaging 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds to go along with her team-high eights total blocks, while Yossi is averaging 12.2 points and shooting 46% from beyond the arc. Rounding out the bunch is freshman forward Paige Ballinger as she is averaging 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, while shooting 77% from the field.

Pick Pocketers: Senior guards Aubrey Davis and Ashley Olson find themselves tied for first in the NSIC with steals per game. The backcouort duo is avergaing three steals a piece per game. 
  
1,000 Career Point Tracker:  Senior guard Aubrey Davis added 14 more points this weekend, which now puts her just 40 points from the 1,000 career mark.


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