MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team (14-12, 11-11 NSIC) will take to the road to face off with St. Cloud State in the first round of the NSIC Tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m.
 
Mavericks at a Glance: Minnesota State (14-12, 11-11 NSIC), enters the week after sweeping the final weekend of the regular season with an 86-67 win at Upper Iowa, and a 59-49 win at Winona State.  

Impact Mavericks: Junior forward Taylor Drost is the leading scorer for the Mavericks, averaging 13.6 points per game, including a career best 32-point outing against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles.  Sophomore forward Brooke Tonsfeldt is averaging the most rebounds with 7.0 per game and also is averaging 1.7 steals and 8.9 points per game.  

Freshman Fire: Several freshmen are making an early impact for the Mavericks this season. Center Kristi Fett is averaging 5.6 points per game while also averaging 4.3 rebounds a game and is leading the team with 19 blocks.  Fett recorded a career high 20-points in the Mavericks win at Upper Iowa. Guard Rylee Menster is averaging 4.6 points per game while shooting 43.9% from the floor.

Stat Pack: As a team Minnesota State is averaging 74.6 points per game in comparison to its opponents' 70.7. Additionally, the Mavericks average 42.5 rebounds per game and dish out 13.5 assists per game and steal the ball 9.0 times per game.  

Scouting St. Cloud State:  St. Cloud State is located in St. Cloud, Minn, and finished the regular season 17-9 (14-8 NSIC). The Huskies are members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). St. Cloud State is led by interim head coach Lori Fish who is in his 11th year with the program.  
 
As a team this season, the Huskies net 66.7 points per game in comparison to its opponents' 58.7. St. Cloud State also snatches 38.1 rebounds and dishes out 14.1 assists per contest. 

The Huskies are led by senior guard Mallie Doucette who is averaging 12.6 points per game.  Sophomore guard Tori Wortz is the second leading scorer for St. Cloud State, averaging 12.3  points per game.  Sophomore forward Nikki Kilboten is the leading rebounder for the Huskies, averaging 6.5 boards per game.  

Saturday's game will mark the 97th all-time meeting between these two programs, the most recent of which was a 78-62 win for the Mavericks earlier this season in Mankato, Minn.  In that game, senior guard Monica Muth led all scorers with 19-points while adding four assists.  Tayla Stuttley finished the game with 14-points and five rebounds while Taylor Drost and Rylee Menster each finished the game with 13-points. 

The Mavericks shot 44.6% from the field compared to 34.5% for the Huskies and won the rebound battle 42-33.  Minnesota State also won the bench battle getting 33 points from their reserves compared to 17 for St. Cloud State.

Looking Ahead: The winner of Wednesday's game will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. to compete in the second round of the NSIC Tournament.