Friday, January 10
Minot, ND
5:30 p.m.
St. Cloud State
at
Minot State University
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Huskies carry winning momentum on North Dakota roadtrip
1/7/2020 12:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The new year and holiday break seem to have brought good things for the St. Cloud State University women's basketball team. The Huskies opened the second half of the season with a weekend sweep of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) foes Minnesota-Crookston and Bemidji State. St. Cloud State will bring its winning momentum into the weekend, as the team is set to face Minot State and the University of Mary in two key NSIC North contests.
The Huskies, Marauders and Beavers squared off earlier this season in one of the first NSIC weekends of the 2019-20 season. St. Cloud State played host to Mary and Minot State in early December, falling to the visiting Marauders 60-51 before rebounding for a 80-56 victory over the Beavers for the team's first NSIC win of the season. Since those initial meetings, the Huskies have put together an impressive 4-1 record with two weekend sweeps.
St. Cloud State will open the weekend with a 5:30 p.m. tip off at the Minot State dome before concluding the weekend with a 3:30 p.m. game in Mary's McDowell Activity Center. Live stats and video will be available for both broadcasts, and score updates can be found on the team's Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_WBB).
Here are the five things to know before this weekend's NSIC series:
58.4 – The Huskies are not giving up a whole lotta points this season. Thanks to an impressive defensive game, St. Cloud State St. Cloud State has held opponents to a .382 shooting percentage from the floor this season and forced 202 total turnovers in 12 games, helping them hold opponents to just 58.4 points per game. Sophomore guard Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) and junior forward Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) have played a large role in this success, as both rank top-5 in the conference in steals and block. Evans currently leads the NSIC with a 2.2 steals per game average, while Kilboten's 21 blocks and 18/game average rank fourth.
19.0 – The Huskies will certainly have their hands full this weekend as they try to stop NSIC leading scorer Cassie Askvig. Mary's stud senior is currently averaging 19.0 points in conference games and is also a force to be reckoned with on the boards with a 7.0 rebound per game average. In December's meeting. Askvig led all players with 21 points for the Marauders, guiding them to a 60-51 victory over St. Cloud State.
80 – The Huskies 80 point performance against Minot State was one of their best of the season. Four of St. Cloud State's five starters scored in double-digits that early Saturday in December, including Evans, Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia), Kilboten and Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove), and the team shot just under .500 from the field during the game. More impressively, the Huskies defense held the Beavers to just 56 points in 40 minutes of play and allowed just one player, Mariah Payne, to score in double-digits.
17.4 – That 22-point performance was not a one-off for Payne, as she's averaging 17.4 points in NSIC games this season. In addition to scoring 22 against St. Cloud State, Payne put up 35 against Concordia-St. Paul last weekend. However, she is the only player scoring for Minot State this season. While Payne averages well over 17 points a game, the next closest Beaver is averaging only 8.3, and the numbers dwindle from there.
0-2 – While the Huskies are coming off a big 2-0 weekend, both Minot State and Mary went 0-2, falling on the road to Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State. In the loss to the Golden Bears, the Marauders surrendered a season-high 91 points in regulation while managing only 72 of their own. The Beavers, on the other hand, fell to 0-8 in NSIC play with their losses to Concordia and the Mavericks, marking them as the lone team in the conference without a win this season.
The Huskies, Marauders and Beavers squared off earlier this season in one of the first NSIC weekends of the 2019-20 season. St. Cloud State played host to Mary and Minot State in early December, falling to the visiting Marauders 60-51 before rebounding for a 80-56 victory over the Beavers for the team's first NSIC win of the season. Since those initial meetings, the Huskies have put together an impressive 4-1 record with two weekend sweeps.
St. Cloud State will open the weekend with a 5:30 p.m. tip off at the Minot State dome before concluding the weekend with a 3:30 p.m. game in Mary's McDowell Activity Center. Live stats and video will be available for both broadcasts, and score updates can be found on the team's Twitter page (@SCSUHUSKIES_WBB).
Here are the five things to know before this weekend's NSIC series:
58.4 – The Huskies are not giving up a whole lotta points this season. Thanks to an impressive defensive game, St. Cloud State St. Cloud State has held opponents to a .382 shooting percentage from the floor this season and forced 202 total turnovers in 12 games, helping them hold opponents to just 58.4 points per game. Sophomore guard Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) and junior forward Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) have played a large role in this success, as both rank top-5 in the conference in steals and block. Evans currently leads the NSIC with a 2.2 steals per game average, while Kilboten's 21 blocks and 18/game average rank fourth.
19.0 – The Huskies will certainly have their hands full this weekend as they try to stop NSIC leading scorer Cassie Askvig. Mary's stud senior is currently averaging 19.0 points in conference games and is also a force to be reckoned with on the boards with a 7.0 rebound per game average. In December's meeting. Askvig led all players with 21 points for the Marauders, guiding them to a 60-51 victory over St. Cloud State.
80 – The Huskies 80 point performance against Minot State was one of their best of the season. Four of St. Cloud State's five starters scored in double-digits that early Saturday in December, including Evans, Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia), Kilboten and Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove), and the team shot just under .500 from the field during the game. More impressively, the Huskies defense held the Beavers to just 56 points in 40 minutes of play and allowed just one player, Mariah Payne, to score in double-digits.
17.4 – That 22-point performance was not a one-off for Payne, as she's averaging 17.4 points in NSIC games this season. In addition to scoring 22 against St. Cloud State, Payne put up 35 against Concordia-St. Paul last weekend. However, she is the only player scoring for Minot State this season. While Payne averages well over 17 points a game, the next closest Beaver is averaging only 8.3, and the numbers dwindle from there.
0-2 – While the Huskies are coming off a big 2-0 weekend, both Minot State and Mary went 0-2, falling on the road to Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State. In the loss to the Golden Bears, the Marauders surrendered a season-high 91 points in regulation while managing only 72 of their own. The Beavers, on the other hand, fell to 0-8 in NSIC play with their losses to Concordia and the Mavericks, marking them as the lone team in the conference without a win this season.
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