Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team will hit the road for its final regular season road trip this coming weekend. The Mavericks will take on Sioux Falls on Friday, before they set their sights on Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Tip-off for those games are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

This Past Weekend: After losing its first home game of the season last Tuesday, Minnesota State quickly rebounded as the Mavericks came out victorious in both of their games this past weekend. MSU was able to beat Winona State on Friday in overtime, 71-66, before it was able cruise past Upper Iowa on Saturday, by the score of 82-48.

Scouting the Cougars: Sioux Falls enters the contest with a 15-9 overall record and an 11-9 record in NSIC play. The Cougars are coached by Travis Traphagen, who is his seventh season at the job. The Mavericks own a 4-1 all-time record over the Cougars, including most recently, a 78-72 victory from earlier this season at Taylor Center.

The Cougars are averaging 71.6 points game, which ranks them fourth in the NSIC in scoring offense, while their opponents are putting up 64.8 points a game on them.  USF is shooting 33% from the three-point arc and ranks second in the conference in three-point field goals made per game with 7.9. The Cougars rank  last in NSIC in free-throw percentage, shooting 61% from the charity stripe, while USF places first in the NSIC in total rebounds per game with 43.8.

USF has three players this year averaging double-figures in points per game. Leading the charge  for the Cougars is junior guard Taylor Varsho. She is averaging 12.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals a game. Varsho currently holds a team-leading 56 made three-point field goals on the year and sits in third in the NSIC in assists per game and second in three-point field goals per game with 2.3.

Senior guard Jaicee Ulmer and sophomore forward Sam Knecht are the other two players for USF averaging double-figures in points this year. Ulmer is averaging 11.6 points a game, and leads the team in three-point field goal percentage with 39%, which is good enough for second in the NSIC. Knecht is right behind with 11.3 points and a team-leading 7.2 boards a game. She currently ranks eighth in the conference in rebounds per game and third in blocks per game with 2.0.

Scouting the Mustangs: SMSU enters the week with a 3-21 overall record and a 3-17 record in NSIC play. Head coach for the Mustangs is Allison Kruger, who is currently in her fifth season at the helm.  MSU currently holds a 28-14 all-time record on SMSU, including most recently, a 76-62 victory over the Mustangs from earlier this season at Taylor Center.

SMSU averages 58.5 points a game this season and owns a scoring margin of -17.5. The Mustangs are shooting 38% from the field, while their opponents are averaging 46% from the field. SMSU has a -4.2 rebounding margin and -3.8 turnover margin for the year.

Junior guard Annessa Rosch leads the Mustangs this year with a team-leading 12 points and 3.2 assists a game, to go along with minutes played. Rosch also has posted a team-leading 41 made three-pointers on the year and ranks fourth in the NSIC in minutes per game and ninth in assists per game. Freshman forward Lauren Hedlund also averages double-digits for the Mustangs, with 11 points and a team-leading 5.7 rebounds a game.

Better Late Then Never: In last  Friday's come from behind, overtime win over Winona State, the Mavericks were down 13 points at halftime.  In fact, MSU was still down by nine, 58-49, with five minutes remaining in the second half, before the Mavericks exploded out for a 11-2 run to tie the game up at 60-60, with 2:27 left to play. During the run,  Aubrey Davis, Ashley Olson and Sammie Delzotto were all able to make a three-pointer, to quickly cut the deficit.

Total Dominance: In last Saturday's 82-48, victory over Upper Iowa, it marked  as the largest win in terms of scoring margin this season for the Mavericks. Also the 48 points given up by MSU, is the lowest amount of points given up all season by the Mavericks. 

In the game, the Mavericks shot 49% from the field, while UIU shot just 27% for the game. MSU was also able to force 21 Peacock turnovers and outscored UIU, 42-14 in the paint and 14-0 in fast break points.

Potent Offense: The Mavericks rank third in the NSIC in scoring offense, averaging 74.1 points a game.

Team Rebounding: MSU sits in fifth  in the NSIC this week in total rebounds, as the Mavericks are averaging 40.4 boards a game. 

Three-Point Shooting: MSU places second in three-point percentage coming into the week, shooting 37% from behind the arc. The Mavericks also sit in fourth in the conference in made threes per game with 7.5 a game. 

Dropping Dimes: The Mavericks currently rank fifth in the NSIC in assists per game, with 15.48 a game.

From Deep: Senior guards Aubrey Davis and Ashley Olson both find themselves in the top-three in the NSIC in three-point field goal percentage this week. Davis currently qualifies for first in the conference, shooting 44% (50-113).  In the last seven games Davis is shooting 46% (18-39) from behind the arc. Olson falls in fourth this week in three-point percentage, shooting 39% (53-136). Olson also places fourth in the NSIC in made three-point field goals per game with  2.1, while Davis ranks seventh with 2.0 a game.

Assisting the Way:  Senior guard Aubrey Davis finds herself currently second in the NSIC in assists per game with 4.6, after tallying 10 more assists this past weekend.

Block Party: senior forward Lexie Ulfers currently sits in fifth in the NSIC in block shots per game with 2.0.

Pick Pocketer: Senior guard Aubrey Davis finds herself in the top-ten in the NSIC in steals per game this week as she is tallying 1.8 a game.


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