Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball teams will close out its regular season schedule with a pair of home games on the docket. The Mavericks will be at Taylor Center this weekend hosting Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. MSU will first take on USF on Friday at 6:00 p.m., before turning its attention to SMSU on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Saturday's game will also mark as "Senior Day", as the Mavericks will be honoring seniors McKenzie Hoelmenn [Lakeville, Minn.] and Anna Leloux [Parker, S.D.]. 

Last Weekend: The Mavericks, last weekend, split a pair of road games against #9 Winona State and Upper Iowa. MSU fell to WSU, 69-61, in Winona, Minn., before bouncing back with a, 61-56, defeat over UIU in Fayette, Iowa on Saturday evening.

Against the Warriors on Friday night, the Mavericks gave a valiant effort against the NSIC's best team this season. WSU drained eight three-pointers in the first half, which help give the Warriors a 40-29 lead over the Mavericks. In the second half the Mavericks battled back and turned up the pressure on the defensive side against the Warriors. MSU held WSU to 29% from the field in the third quarter and the Warriors on the season are averaging a NSIC best 45% shooting from the field. Also WSU was unable to make a single three-pointer in the quarter which helped MSU outscore the Warriors 18-10. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks trailed by just three, 50-47, to the #9 Warriors.

In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks were never able to tie the game up or take the lead as they got the Warriors lead down to two a couple of times at the 1:36 mark and also with 36 seconds left in the game. WSU also nailed all eight of its free-throw attempts in the last minute of play to help the Warriors get the, 69-61, win over the Mavericks.

MSU ended the game shooting 39% from the field and WSU finished slightly worse with 36%. The key difference in the game came from beyond the arc, as the Warriors sunk 11 three-pointers, while the Mavericks drained seven.

Junior Sammie Delzotto [Eagan, Minn.] posted a new season-high of 17 points and also added eight rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] recorded 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, while freshman Monica Muth [Cambridge, Wis.] tallied a new season-high with 11 points.

The next day against Upper Iowa, the Mavericks rebounded nicely with a 61-56 win over the Peacocks. Junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] matched her season-high of 26 points and made five of the Mavericks six three-pointers in the game.

MSU finished shooting 47% from the field, while UIU ended the game shooting 37%. The Mavericks outrebounded the Peacocks 36-28 and MSU shot 17-of-25 from the free-throw line, while UIU shot 6-of-9 from the line. Ziegler notched her fifth double-double of the season as she finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Concerning Sioux Falls: The Cougars enter the week second in the NSIC South division standings, as they hold a 21-5 overall record and 15-5 record in NSIC play. In USF's most recent game, it fell to Augustana University, 64-54, but before that the Cougars had won eight straight league games. USF is coached by Travis Traphagen who is in his seventh season at the helm.

Friday's game will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Cougars, as MSU owns a 4-3 overall record against USF. In six of the seven games, the home team has won every game. In the latest meeting between the two teams, the Cougars defeated the Mavericks 99-76 in Sioux Falls, back on January 23. In the game, MSU was down just four, 43-39, at halftime against USF. However the Cougars outscored the Mavericks in the third quarter 35-12, which helped propel them to victory. In the quarter, USF shot 14-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-4 from deep.

The Cougars this season lead the NSIC in scoring with 74.6 points per game and rank second in the conference in scoring defense with 60.3. Shooting wise, the Cougars make 42% of its shots and hold their opponents to 38%. From beyond the arc, USF has made the most three-pointers in the NSIC with 220 and shoot it at a 34% rate which is fifth in the conference. The Cougars on average pull down 40.8 boards a game and their opponents grab 34.7, which gives them the second best rebounding margin in the NSIC, +6.2. Finally, USF turns the ball over  12.5 per game which is the second least amount in the NSIC and dish out 17.7 assists per game which is a league best.

USF is led by senior guard Taylor Varsho who ranks first in the NSIC total made three-pointers at 93 and second in points per game with 18.6. Varsho averages about 3.6 three-pointers made per game, while also pulling down 4.2 boards and dishing out 3.4 assists a game.

The Cougars have two other players averaging double-figures in junior Sam Knecht and Alison Klostergaard. Knecht ranks second on the team with 10.8 points and 6.6 rebounds. She also leads USF with 25 total blocks on the year, while Klostergaard averages 10.2 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game. Also senior Teagan Molden averages 9.3 points a ball game, while junior guard Madi Robson leads the team with 4.6 assists a game which ranks second in the NSIC.

Concerning Southwest Minnesota State: The Mustangs stand with a 5-21 overall record and a 3-17 record in NSIC play. SMSU has lost three straight games entering the week, with its most recent win coming against Bemidji State on Feb. 5. Allison Kruger coaches the Mustangs as she is in her sixth season.

Saturday's matchup will mark as the 45th all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Mustangs. Dating back to 1971, the MSU has built a 30-14 all-time record against SMSU, including 17 straight wins for the Mavericks. Earlier this season the two teams met up in Marshal, Minn. where the MSU prevailed and defeated SMSU, 88-77. In the game, MSU was clinging on to just a three-point, 76-73, lead over SMSU with a little over four minutes to play in the game. The Mavericks defense turned up the pressure the last four minutes of the ball game, as they held the Mustangs to just four more points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field and forced five turnovers to close out the game.

Britney Scherber led MSU with 18 points and finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Claire Ziegler racked up her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Junior Karina Schroeder [Lake Crystal, Minn.] and freshman Taylor Paulsrud [Rogers, Minn.] came off the bench and added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Mustangs this season average 61.3 points and shoot 38% from the field each game, while their opponents score 74.4 points at a 44% clip.  SMSU also shoots 28% from beyond the arc and 70% from the charity stripe. Finally, SMSU dishes out 11.7 assists per game and owns a -1.7 rebounding margin and a -4.4 turnover margin.

Senior Hope Bonlander leads the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game and places second on the team with 6.5 rebounds a game. Sophomore Lauren Hedlund is second on the team with 12.4 points a contest and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds each game. Senior Annessa Rosch also averages double-figures with 10.9 points per game and leads the Mustangs with 33.6 minutes per game and 37 made three-pointers.

Season-Highs: Sammie Delzotto set a new season-high of 17 points against Winona State on Friday, as Monica Muth did as well in the same game with 11 points. For the third time this season Britney Scherber matched her season-high of 26 points against Upper Iowa on Saturday.

Leading Scorers: Through 24 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 13.8 points a game, while Scherber sits second on the team with 13.5 points a contest. Ziegler currently ranks 11th in the NSIC in scoring and Scherber places in 14th.

Rebounding Attack: Three Mavericks are averaging six or more rebounds a contest through 24 games this season. Sophomore Claire Ziegler leads the team with 8.5 rebounds a game and ranks third in the NSIC. Senior McKenzie Hoelmenn sits second on the team with 6.6 rebounds each game, which places her 18th in the NSIC. Rounding out the trio is junior Karina Schroeder as she is averaging 6.2 per contest.

Efficient Shooting: Sophomore forward Claire Ziegler currently places third in the NSIC in field-goal percentage as she is shooting over 52% from the field (142-271).

At the Charity Stripe: Junior point guard Britney Scherber is shooting 84% (78-93) from the free-throw line, which ranks her 4th in the NSIC. Inside of two minutes, Scherber is shooting even better with 89% (25-28).