MANKATO, Minn.--- Minnesota State (10-13-0, 4-12-0 WCHA) will take on No. 2 Wisconsin (18-4-0, 12-4-0 WCHA) with action scheduled to start at 6 p.m. from the Mayo Clinic HSEC.  

Last Time Out:
Minnesota State earned its second series split of the season going 1-1 against No. 9 St. Cloud State. Freshman Hailey Hansen got the call for the Mavericks in both contests accumulating a 2.50 goals-against average and .896 save percentage on the weekend.

On Friday, The Mavericks picked up both of their goals in the first period. Sophomore Whitney Tuttle (8) lit the lamp for Minnesota State at the 13:50 mark.
 
Junior Claire Vekich picked up her fifth goal of the season a little over three minutes later which proved to be the game-winner. St. Cloud State scored at 18:31 of the first, however, that would prove to be the last time they got the puck past Hansen.

The Mavericks' defensive play in the final two periods of Friday's play minimized SCSU scoring opportunities seeing 15 blocked shots as a team holding the Huskies to only 26 shots on net compared to MSU's 32 shots.

After the Mavericks found themselves down a pair of tallies heading into the season period on Saturday, Minnesota State found its footing by seeing goals from junior MacKenzie Bourgerie (3) and sophomore Whitney Tuttle (9) in the second frame.

Senior Sydney Langseth collected her team-leading 14th assist and 24th point on Tuttle's tally now registering a point in nine of the last eleven games.

After SCSU regained the lead late in the second, the Huskies sealed the victory with a third-period goal. 

Taking on WU:  
Wisconsin (18-4-0, 12-4-0 WCHA) is six points behind top-ranked Ohio State for first place in the WCHA. The Badgers' only losses this season are from WCHA opponents Ohio State, Minnesota, and Minn. Duluth.

Offensively, Wisconsin owns the top scoring margin in DI Women's Hockey with 121 goals scored with only 31 goals against for a +4.09 margin per game. Seniors Britta Curl, Casey O'Brian, junior Lacey Eden, and sophomore Kirsten Simms run one of the most effective offenses in College Hockey with all four players combining for 145 points. As a team, MSU has accumulated 170. UW's four-head monster has more combined points than Bemidji State and St. Thomas while coming up one point shy of No. 9 St. Cloud State who have 146 points on the year.  

Leading the pack, Simms currently leads all DI Women's Hockey in points per game (2.05) while ranking second in the nation with 41 total points. Curl is tied for third in the nation with 38 total points while O'Brian sits ninth with 34.

As one of the top special team units in the conference, the Badgers rank second to Minnesota in power-play percentage (.321) and third in penalty-killing percentage (.873). Despite being second in power-play percentage, UW possesses the most power-play goals in the WCHA with 26. Lacey Eden leads the Wisconsin power-play owning six man-advantage tallies which is tied for sixth in the nation.

Wisconsin has relied on its elite goaltending from junior Jane Gervais and freshman Ava McNaughton who combine for a 1.41 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. Among WCHA Rankings, McNaughton is currently fourth in goals-against (1.32) average and fifth in save percentage (.939).