MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team (16-10, 13-9 NSIC) will host the first round of the NSIC Basketball Tournament against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Wednesday night with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
 
Mavericks at a Glance: Minnesota State (16-10, 13-9 NSIC), enters postseason play with a 16-10 record after picking up a pair of wins over Upper Iowa and Winona State during the final weekend of the regular season.  

Stat Pack: As a team, Minnesota State is averaging 76.4 points per game in comparison to its opponents' 69.5. Additionally, the Mavericks average 41.7 rebounds per game and dish out 14.0 assists per game while stealing the ball 12.6 times per game.

Impact Mavericks: Sophomore center Kristi Fett is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Mavericks, averaging 9.9 points per game while pulling down 6.3 rebounds per contest. Senior guard Kirstin Klitzke is the second leading scorer for the Mavericks, averaging 9.4 points per game as well as averaging 2.9 rebounds per game.  Junior forward Tayla Stuttley is the team's third leading scorer averaging 9.3 points per game.  

Youth Movement: Several underclassmen are making an early impact for the Mavericks this season. Center Kristi Fett is averaging 9.9 points per game while also averaging 6.3 rebounds a game.  Freshman guard Joey Batt is averaging 9.0 points per game to go along with 1.5 steals per contest.  Sophomore guard Maddy Olson is averaging 6.3 points per game this season.  

Bench Squad: The bench players for the Mavericks have outscored their opponents 922-494 to date this season.

Scouting Minnesota Crookston:  Minnesota Crookston is located in Crookston, Minn., and are currently 5-21 (4-18 NSIC) on the season. The Golden Eagles are members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).  Minnesota Crookston is led by head coach Mike Roysland who is in his 14th season as the leader of the program.  

As a team this season, the Golden Eagles net 62.4 points per game in comparison to their opponents' 75.2. Crookston also snatches 35.0 rebounds and dishes out 10.0 assists per contest. 

The Golden Eagles are led by freshman forward Mary Burke who averages 9.2 points per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore center Bren Fox is the leading rebounder for Minnesota Crookston, averaging 6.6 rebounds per game and 7.7 points per game.  

Wednesday's game will mark the 25th all-time meeting between these two programs, the most recent of which was an 89-68 win for the Mavericks earlier this season.  In that game, Kristi Fett led Minnesota State with 18 points and five rebounds while Rachel Shumski contributed 14 and 11 points respectively.

Looking Ahead: The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the second round of the NSIC Basketball tournament at the Sanford Pentagon which will take place on Sunday.