With just three weekends left in the 2018-19 regular season, Winona State women's basketball looks to improve its position in the NSIC South as Minot State and UMary come to town. Tipoff against Minot is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Friday with the finale set for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with UMary.
Historically, Winona State has played this weekend's opponents evenly as the Warriors hold a slight edge over the Beavers (4-3) and Marauders (11-9) in the all-time series. Last year, WSU split two meetings with Minot State falling in the regular season meeting but defeated the Beavers in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Saturday, WSU looks to avenge a disappointing 81-64 loss to UMary last season and reclaim their dominance against the Marauders.
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SCOUTING THE BEAVERS: The Beavers enter the weekend in the sixth spot in the NSIC North division with a record of 10-12 (5-11 NSIC). MSU started off the conference schedule with six-straight losses which dug the Beavers into a deep hole that has been hard to get out of. Minot State has struggled on the road this season only winning two of their nine road contests. Despite the sub-par season, the Beavers are among the top teams in the conference shooting 43.5% from the field which is second in the NSIC. Madison Wald (13.9) and Kari Clements (13.8) have been a force on the offensive side of the ball for the Beavers, both amassing over 300 points this season. Clements also leads MSU with 45 takeaways on the year.
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS: UMary enters the weekend as the most consistent shooting team in the NSIC holding a 45.3% field goal percentage and a 36.1% mark from beyond the arc. UMary loves to shoot the ball, collecting over 55 shot attempts in each of the last four games. The Marauders are coming off a weekend sweep of Wayne State and Augustana, holding onto the third spot in the strong NSIC North with an 11-5 conference record. Winona State has a tough task ahead of them Saturday afternoon as reigning NSIC North Player of the Week Cassie Askvig leads the league averaging 18.9 PPG while nabbing 9.6 rebounds as well. Her offensive partner Gabbie Bohl is close behind her averaging 18.8 per game and leads the Marauders averaging 9.8 rebounds per contest. If the Marauders have one weakness, it's the nack for turning the ball over. UMary has the second-worst turnover margin in the league (-5.3), committing 16.2 per game.
PLAYOFF PUSH:Coming down the stretch in the 2018-19 season, the Warriors look to secure home court advantage in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Currently sitting in the fourth position, Winona State would host a first round playoff game against the fifth-seeded team in the North. The Warriors hold a 5-2 record on their home court this season and are currently on a small three-game win streak in McCown looking to improve their position with two home weekends remaining. Historically WSU has made the most of its first round opportunities at home, winning each of the three matchups from 2013 through the 2016 season.
TRENDING UPWARD: The Warriors held an even record through two thirds of the season and have since been showing signs of a playoff push. Winona State completed its first weekend sweep of the season, defeating Southwest and Sioux Falls just two weeks ago and split last weekend's contests with UMD and St. Cloud State, defeating the Huskies by a narrow margin, 55-53. The Warriors are winners of four of their last six contests and have an opportunity to climb up the divisional standings in the coming weeks with matchups against Sioux Falls and Concordia-St. Paul, two teams ahead of the Warriors in the standings.
LEADING LADIES: The senior duo of
Kayla Schaefer and
Rachel Novotny has been a driving force for the Warriors this season. Schaefer recently leapfrogged her counterpart taking over the scoring lead, averaging 11.1 PPG. Novotny (10.4) continues to average in double figures scoring while remaining in the top-10 in rebounds bringing down 7.3 per night. After cooling off mid-season, sophomore
Allie Pickrain has found her groove once again as the team leader in three pointers (40) is averaging 9.5 PPG over the last two weekends and continues to be Winona State's biggest threat from the outside.
