The Warriors enter the final weekend of the regular season sitting pretty in a tie for third in the NSIC South. WSU welcomes the top team in the south, Concordia, St. Paul to McCown Friday night and Minnesota State Saturday to close out the season. Tipoff against CSP is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday with the finale against Mankato scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Following Saturday's game, the Warriors will pay tribute to two seniors, Rachel Novotny and Kayla Schaefer, who have helped sustain this Warrior team over the years. With a home playoff game already locked up, Winona State looks to perfect its craft and use this weekend as a launching point into another deep run in the NSIC Tournament.
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SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS: Concordia, St. Paul (19-6, 15-5 NSIC) enters Friday night on a four game win-streak sitting atop the NSIC South and was recently tabbed seventh in the first NCAA DII Central Region Rankings. The Golden Bears score an average of 67 points per night while shooting a consistent 41% from the floor. The CSP defense wreaks havoc on its opponents holding them to a league minimum 36% shooting. Lindsey Door is the driving force behind the Golden Bears' success averaging a double-double (16.3 points, 10 rebounds) this season. Right behind her is teammate Anna Schmitt (16.2 PPG) who is the reigning NSIC Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and four assists in Concordia, St. Paul's two wins this past weekend.
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Minnesota State (12-12, 9-11 NSIC) enters the weekend as the top scoring team in the NSIC (74.6 PPG). The Mavericks average 41% from the field while shooting at a 33% clip from beyond the arc. MSU holds a +4.5 rebound margin over its opponents nabbing a league leading 42.5 per game. Taylor Drost leads the Mavericks scoring 13.6 PPG and shoots 33% from beyond the arc. MSU's second leading scorer Monica Muth also shoots the three ball at a 40% clip. Brooke Tonsfeldt commands the boards for the Mavericks leading MSU with 166 rebounds on the yea, averaging 6.3 per game.
SENIOR DAY: WSU will recognize its two seniors following Saturday's game. Kayla Schaefer was a four-year contributor to Warrior basketball playing in 30-plus games in each of her first three seasons. The Paynesville, Minn. native is a career 42% shooter totaling 576 points, 216 rebounds and 107 assists entering the weekend. Schaefer has been a critical part of three Winona State runs to the NSIC Semifinals over her tenure and was a part of a team in 2016 that reached the NCAA Regional Tournament. Rachel Novotny, a transfer from Lake Superior State, played two years for the Warriors amassing 426 points, 313 rebounds and 44 blocked shots. The New Berlin, Wis. native ranks eighth in the league in rebounds (183) and sixth in blocked shots (35) this season. As a key contributor to Winona State's success under the basket this season, Novotny has collected five double-doubles with her most recent coming this past weekend against SMSU where she dropped 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Mustangs.
PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Warriors secured a home playoff game in the first round of the NSIC Tournament by splitting last weekend's games. Winona State currently sits in a tie for third place with Augustana in the South Division with a chance to move up one spot depending on how the weekend concludes. If the Warriors position does not change at the conclusion of this weekend, WSU would be the fourth seed and host the North Division's fifth seed, Minot State, in a rematch of last year's first round. Should the Warriors leapfrog Augustana this weekend, Winona State would receive the number three seed in the tournament and host the six seed in the North, Northern State. Winona State has reached the NSIC Tournament Semifinals each of the past three seasons with last year's playoff run ending in a battle for the title against Augustana.
SEASONED VETS: In their sophomore season's Emily Kieck and Allie Pickrain show no signs of slowing down as the two continue play like veterans that can wreak havoc in the NSIC as they continue their careers. Kieck leads the Warriors averaging 10.8 PPG while also dishing out a team-high 2.2 assist per game. She does a good job of drawing close contact from defenders which is proven by her 105 trips to the line where she is successful at a 76% clip this season. Pickrain continues to electrify the crowd with her three-point shooting, knocking down 55 so far this season at a 32% rate. During the last homestand, Winona State scored 15 three-pointers on Minot State, seven of which came from the hands of Pickrain, a mark that is tied for fifth all-time. The following night, Kieck and Pickrain combined for 41 points, dropping eight combined three's in a victory over UMary.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Winona State has shown an improvement over the course of the season when it comes to committing turnovers. The Warriors started out as a team that committed close to 20 per game but have severely shrunk that number to just over 12, a mark that is currently 15th in the nation. Additionally, the Warriors rank 11th in fewest turnovers committed (297).
