WINONA, Minn. -- The No. 9 Winona State women's basketball team looks to extend its longest winning streak in school history when it hosts Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. Saturday in the final game of the 2015 calendar year.


LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: The Warriors pushed their record to 12-0, 5-0 NSIC with a pair of road victories at Concordia-St. Paul (84-66) and Minnesota State (74-59).

RECORD SET: With WSU's win over Minnesota State Saturday, the Warriors set a new school record for longest winning streak at 12 straight games. The previous longest winning streak was 11, set from January 23 to March 4, 2009, by the team that would later that season earn WSU's first berth in the NCAA Tournament.

ON A ROLL-OFS: Junior guard Tara Roelofs' impressive season continues to get better. Roelofs tallied a new career-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting Saturday in the win over MSU. Roelofs has reached double figures in all but one game this season and has scored 14 or more in all but two. She's been even better so far in NSIC play, averaging 21.4 points per game in five Warrior wins, which is second best in the league. Roelofs gets it done at the line too, making 32 of 33 attempts.

PEACOCK REMATCH: WSU squares off with Upper Iowa for the second time this season. In an 83-58 WSU win in the NSIC opener last month, Roelofs had a then-career-best performance, scoring a 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting while hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers. Kayla Timmerman added 16, points while Hannah McGlone scored 14. Connor Nagle dished out a career-high 10 assists. The Warriors shot 54 percent from the floor. 

SCOUTING THE PEACOCKS: Upper Iowa is coached by Carol Russell, who's in her sixth season at the helm of the Peacock program. UIU comes to McCown with a 3-8 record, and a 2-3 mark in league play. The Peacocks boast a two-player threat with Aleesha Cleaver's 14.7 points per game and Whitney Kieffer's 13.0. The Peacocks rank 14th in the 16-team NSIC in both scoring offense (62.5 ppg) and defense (74.2 ppg). They allow teams to shoot a league-best 46.7 perecnt from the field and are the only team in the NSIC to dish out fewer than 10 assists per game (9.7).

LIMITING STAR PLAYERS: The Warriors went the first 10 games of the season without allowing an opposing player to score 20 points. Concordia-St. Paul's Anna Schmitt finally broke the streak with a 21-point game against the Warriors last Friday. The Warriors, meanwhile, have had a 20-point scorer in seven different games this year.

SUCESS ON BOTH ENDS: The Warriors boast both league's best scoring offense (81.2) and scoring defense (53.6). WSU also tops the league charts in field goal percentage at 48.9 percent - considerably better than second place Wayne State's 42.6 percent - and are second in the NSIC in field goal percentage defense, allowing teams to make just 34.1 percent of their shots - behind only U-Mary's 33.1 clip.

NAGLE A "DEADLY SHOOTER": Sharp-shooting senior Connor Nagle this week was named HERO Sports' second deadliest 3-point shooter in Division II. She continues to be a 3-point threat, as her 7 3-pointers last weekend moved her up to 20th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 48.4 (31-of-64).

EASY CHARITY: WSU continues to lead  Division II when it comes to free throw shooting this season, hitting 84.4 percent of its shots from the line. That's more than three percentage points better than second place Tiffin (81.2%). Tara Roelofs leads WSU's effort from the FT line, as her 97 percent success rate is third best in the nation. Connor Nagle (91.7), Jenny Tuttle (90.9) and Alexis Foley (90.7) all are above 90 percent on the year.

TURNOVERS IN THEIR FAVOR: WSU is ranked third in Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.46. Not only have the Warriors taken good care of the basketball, they've been a hassle for their opponents, recently overwhelming Viterbo and Loras in back-to-back games to the tune of 29 and 27 turnovers, respectively. WSU has forced at least 13 turnovers in all but one game this season. On the flip side, WSU has failed to dish out at least 10 assists just once.

WBCA RANKINGS: The Warriors earned a new highest ranking in program history, jumping two spots to No. 9 in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Impressive, considering its first-ever apperance in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll was a No. 16 ranking in this year's preseason poll.

D2SIDA POLL: The Warriors jumped two spots in the D2SIDA (Division II Sports Information Directors of America) national poll, checking in at No. 12 this week. In the regional poll, the Warriors moved up to a tie at No. 2 with Emporia State and behind only Fort Hays State.