MANKATO, Minn. – The NSIC regular season continues this week with arguably the biggest conference game of the season. No. 14 Minnesota State (17-3, 13-1 NSIC) is on the road at No. 19 Concordia-St. Paul (18-2, 12-2 NSIC) on Thursday in a battle for the top spot in the NSIC. Then, on Saturday, February 1, the Mavericks host Winona State (8-12, 4-10 NSIC) at home in the Taylor Center.
 
About the Mavericks
Last Week's Recap: Minnesota State played one game on the road at Northern State in Aberdeen last week. The Wolves remained undefeated against Emilee Thiesse in Wachs Arena, as NSU defeated the Mavericks 93-82. Despite a great game from Destinee Bursch, who ended the contest with 27 points, eight rebounds and two steals, Northern State shot 53.3% from the field and an even 50% from beyond the arc. Michaela Jewett for the Wolves ended the game with 28 points and 10 rebounds, which helped her earn NSIC Player of the Week honors.
 
Team Stats: The Mavericks are one of the best offenses at the NCAA DII level. The team averages more points per game than any other team in the country (89.1 PPG) while shooting the fourth-best field goal percentage (46.8% FG) in Division II. Much of Minnesota State's offense is generated on the defensive end, as the Mavericks run full-court pressure for 40 minutes straight. MSU ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game (15.7 SPG), eighth in turnover margin (8.75) and ninth in turnovers forced per game (25.1). The team ranks 23^rd in rebounds per game (42.2 RPG), 15^th in offensive rebounds (16.2 ORPG) and 29^th in assists (16 APG). The Mavericks are very efficient in getting to the free throw line, with an average of 25 shots from the charity stripe and 17.3 makes from there per game, both of which rank in the top five in DII.
 
Star Power: Minnesota State is fortunate enough to have two of the best players in the NSIC on the squad. Natalie Bremer is having an outstanding year, as the junior guard ranks ninth in the country in scoring (20.5 PPG) while shooting 49.8% from the field, third-best in the conference. She also leads the league in steals (2.95 SPG) and free throw percentage (86% FT). Bremer has reached double digits in every game, 20 points in 11 games and has recorded two 30-point performances, including a career-high 32 points against Augustana back in December. Destinee Bursch is also having the best season of her illustrious Maverick career. The Chaska, Minn. native is averaging 17.4 points per game with a 54.7% field goal percentage, which is the second highest in the conference and 24th-best amongst DII players. Bursch has seven 20-point performances including two 27-point games against Northwestern-St. Paul and last Friday against Northern State. She is also the best playmaker on the Mavericks with a team-best 3.9-assist-per-game average. Bursch passed Rhonda House in the game against St. Cloud State for the third-most points in MSU history with 1,697 points in her Maverick career.
 
Newcomer Updates: The team's third-leading scorer is freshman Elisabeth Gadient. She is averaging 9.5 points per game in her freshman on 47% field goal shooting in 18 games. Gadient has reached double figures in each of the last four games and has scored 17 points twice this season. Fellow freshman Lucy Leininger has also played solid minutes as a role player off the bench for the Mavericks. Leininger is averaging 6.4 points on the third-highest field goal percentage on the team (49.5% FG). She scored 14 points against Wayne State, her career-high, and has reached double figures in three of her last four games played. Adeline Kent, a junior transfer from Tampa, has also been a key contributor off the bench for Minnesota State this season. Kent is averaging 5.9 points, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game on 45% three-point shooting in her first season with the team. Kent has scored 11 points in three separate games this year.
 
Closing In On a Record: Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse is closing in on the program record for wins. In 13 seasons, Thiesse holds an all-time record of 245-118 and an NSIC record of 182-85. Minnesota State has won 76 percent of its games in the Taylor Center under Coach Thiesse. She has led the Mavericks to six 20-win seasons and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Last season, Thiesse was named NSIC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. With a win over Concordia-St. Paul, Thiesse would tie Mary Willerscheidt for all-time wins in program history with 246. She would pass Willerscheidt for the most wins in team history following a win over Winona State.
 
History Against Golden Bears: Minnesota State is 25-23 against CSP in the all-time series. After the Mavericks defeated the Golden Bears at home earlier this season, MSU extended its win streak against Concordia to four games with an 85-66 win in the Taylor Center. The last time CSP won at home versus Minnesota State was December 2019, when the team won 82-79. Concordia-St. Paul is 13-7 against the Mavericks at home.
 
History Against Warriors: The Mavericks are 47-23 against Winona State and have won six straight against the Warriors. Minnesota State is 15-6 against WSU at home and is 9-1 against the team in the last 10 matchups. The Mavericks beat the Warriors in Winona 83-69 back in December.
 
 
About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is second in the NSIC with a 12-2 conference record in 2024-25. The team holds an 18-2 record through 20 games this season and has won five in a row. The Golden Bears' two losses of the year have come at the hands of the Mavericks and Northern State. CSP ranks No. 19 in the WBCA poll this week.
 
The Golden Bears hold the third-best scoring offense (75.3 PPG) in the NSIC with the best defense in the league, as they hold opponents to just 59.1 points per contest. CSP shoots 42.6% from the field, 34.8% from beyond the arc and 77.5% from the free throw line. The team averages 41.6 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 10.1 steals and 5.6 blocks per game.
 
Concordia is led by its two stars, Lydia Haack and Lindsey Becher. Haack is averaging 16.1 points, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game on 44.4% field goal shooting. She is coming off a 21-point performance in a win against UMary. Becher is the Golden Bears' starting center and averages 12.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. She is shooting 45.9% from the field in 2024-25. Becher's scoring has been up-and-down recently, but she had a 12-point-12-rebound performance in the team's game against Minnesota Crookston. She also had three blocks and a steal in that game.
 
The team's leader from the bench is 10-year head coach Amanda Johnson, who is the third CSP head coach to reach 100 career wins. Johnson was one of the top post players in the team's history. She led the Golden Bears to an NSIC South Division Championship in her third full season at the helm of the program back in 2018-19.
 
 
About the Warriors
Winona State is 8-12 with a 4-10 record against NSIC opponents in 2024-25. The team has lost seven of its last eight games and is 2-7 on the road. Prior to Saturday's game in Mankato, the Warriors play Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday evening.
 
The Warriors average 64.5 points per game and shoot 39.9% as a team. WSU makes 72.6% of its free throw attempts. The team grabs 36.4 rebounds and dishes out 10.9 assists each game. Defensively, Winona State averages 4.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
 
Senior guard Olivia Gamoke is the Warriors' best player. She is averaging 13 points per game while shooting 34.4% from three-point range. Hailey Markworth is the other Winona State player averaging over 10 points a game. The junior is scoring 11.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and two assists per game this season. Markworth just scored 20 points with six rebounds and four assists in the loss to Northern State last Saturday.
 
The Warriors are led by head coach Ana Wurtz, who has been with the program since she was a player between 2006-2010. Wurtz served as a graduate assistant and associate head coach at Winona State before being named the head coach in 2022.