This Week's Women's Basketball Storylines:
TOUGH TRIP: Winona State will be looking to end a four-game conference road losing streak as the Warriors will take on St. Cloud State Friday night at 6 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud and Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 4 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE: The Warriors are currently 4-2 against the NSIC North as Winona State is coming off a 65-63 home win against Bemidji State and a 70-58 win over Minnesota Crookston. The Warriors will be looking for their first road win against an NSIC North opponent as the Warriors dropped both games of their last NSIC North road trip against Northern State and MSU Moorhead.
IT TAKES TWO: The backcourt duo of Alexis Foley and Connor Nagle are coming off an outstanding weekend of basketball for the Warriors. In their two home games this past weekend, the duo combined to score 69 of their team's 135 points. Foley scored 17 points against BSU and 18 against UMC, as Nagle scored 16 and 18 points respectively. Nagle was lethal from long range, knocking down 7-of-13 three-point field goal attempts.
BIG ON THE BOARDS: Senior center Caitie Zepczyk recorded a career-high 11 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action last Saturday against Minnesota Crookston. Zepczyk's previous season-high in rebounds was eight against Northern State and her previous career-high was nine rebounds against Sioux Falls on Dec. 13, 2012.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: It will be a battle of a potent offense against a strong Winona State defense Friday night as the Huskies are the fifth-best scoring offense in the NSIC at 70.1 ppg. The Warriors in particular will have to try and find a way to shut down the Huskies leading scorer, Lexi Petermann, who is currently averaging 14.9 ppg. Petermann is a dangerous forward who can hit the outside shot. Petermann has made 28 three-pointers this season and shoots 40 percent from behind the arc.
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS THE HUSKIES: The Warriors are 13-23 all-time against the Huskies, but are 8-4 under head coach Scott Ballard and have won seven of the last eight meetings dating back to 2009. In last year's meeting against the Huskies in McCown, the Warriors defeated St. Cloud 69-59. The last time the Warriors played St. Cloud State in Hallenbeck Hall was during the 2013 NSIC Tournament second round and came away with a 47-45 victory.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: While the Bulldogs possess the 10th rated offense in the NSIC (67.3 ppg), the player the Warriors will need to shut down will be Taylor Meyer. Meyer is the NSIC's second-leading scorer at 18.8 ppg. The Warriors will need to try to keep her off the free throw line as she has converted 102 of her 126 attempts from the free throw line (81 percent).
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS THE BULLDOGS: The Warriors have had a tough history with the Bulldogs, as UMD leads the series history 72-15 over Winona State. However, the Warriors have fared better against the Bulldogs as of late, winning two of the last three meetings. The last time Winona State played Minnesota Duluth in Romano Gymnasium was during the first round of the NSIC Tournament in 2013 where the Warriors won 74-56.
