Women’s basketball closes regular season at Duluth

ST. CLOUD, MINN. - Well, the St. Cloud State University women's basketball team made it. After months of uncertainty and weeks of rollercoaster changes, the Huskies and the rest of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) women's basketball teams have arrived at the final weekend of the 2020-21 regular season.

It's not only the final weekend of the regular season for St. Cloud State though. It's also rivalry weekend, which features, perhaps, the biggest NSIC North Division series of the season for the Huskies. After sweeping Minnesota-Crookston at home last weekend, St. Cloud State will take on Minnesota-Duluth in a two-game road series this upcoming Friday and Saturday.

Games between the Bulldogs and Huskies have always been tightly contested, and this year's series should be no different. Minnesota-Duluth is currently the only undefeated team in the NSIC with an overall record of 9-0 and an 8-0 mark in conference play. St. Cloud State, though, is nipping at the Bulldogs heels, as the Huskies are currently riding a four game win-streak of their own, having dismantled previously unbeaten Bemidji State and the Golden Eagles the last two weekends.

Tip off on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Duluth, Minnesota, while Saturday's game is slated to start at 4 p.m. Fans can follow the action via live stats and video, and score updates will be made on the team's official twitter account (@SCSUHUSKIES_WBB) when possible.

Here are the five things to know before Friday's tip:

1 - St. Cloud State is once again looking to spoil the perfect season this weekend, as Minnesota-Duluth enters the game with a pristine 8-0 record in NSIC North Division play. With a win Friday, the Bulldogs can clinch the No. 1 seed in the North Division, while the Huskies can potentially clinch the No. 1 seed with a sweep of Minnesota-Duluth this weekend.

200 - St. Cloud State head coach Lori Fish cemented herself as one of the best coaches in program history last weekend, though most Huskies basketball fans already knew that. Fish notched her 200th win as St. Cloud State's head women's basketball coach in the Huskies 72-55 win over Minnesota-Crookston last Saturday. In 13 seasons as St. Cloud State head coach, Fish has posted an overall record of 200-145 and entered the 2020-21 season with 191 wins to her name.

71-62 - Many people should remember the last time the Huskies and Bulldogs faced off at the 2019-20 NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament. After being swept by Minnesota-Duluth during the regular season, St. Cloud State won when it mattered most, as the Huskies claimed the conference championship with a 71-62 victory over the Bulldogs. Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) was St. Cloud State's leading scorer in the win, as she notched 17 points on 5-7 shooting, including a 3-4 clip from three point range. Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / Eau Claire North) proved to be the X-Factor, as her eight rebounds and 15 points vaulted the Huskies to victory late in the fourth quarter.

19.1 / .528 - St. Cloud State's stingy defense may face its toughest challenge yet this weekend: stopping Minnesota-Duluth's top scorer Brooke Olson. The junior forward currently leads the NSIC with a 19.1 points per game average thanks to a league leading field goal percentage of .528. Basically, when she shoots, Olson doesn't miss. The Huskies, though, have two big scoring threats of their own in Evans and Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson), as both rank top-10 in the NSIC in scoring and field goal percentage. After impressive back-to-back weekends, Evans is averaging 16.1 points per game with a .416 shooting clip, while Wortz is averaging 14.6 points while shooting. 371 from the floor.

54.0 / 57.4 - Scoring might not happen much this weekend, as St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth are the top-2 defensive teams in the NSIC this season. The Huskies surrender just 54.0 points per game and have held their opponents to under 60 points in nine of their 12 games in 2020-21. The Bulldogs are equally as stifling defensively, as their opponents only manage to score 57.4 points a game this season.