St. Cloud State Women's Basketball Gears Up for Key Conference Matchups

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The St. Cloud State women's basketball team gears up for their last full weekend of home matchups before closing the regular season with a home-and-home. The Huskies will host Minot State Feb. 10 and UMary Feb. 11 at Halenbeck Hall.

Friday's game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. while Saturday's game is set for 5:30 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall. The NSIC Network will provide the game streams while Steve Linzmeier, the Voice of Huskies Basketball, will provide live audio coverage on the Varsity Network App. Live stats will be available on the SCSU women's basketball schedule page.

A Look Back
Last weekend the Huskies dropped both of their weekend matchups on the road at Northern State and MSU Moorhead. Against Northern State, the score was just 5-4 in favor of Northern State at the 4:21 mark of the first. St. Cloud would take over the lead to close out the first period up 12-8. NSU went on a 7-0 run to go back on top 15-14 over SCSU. At the 3:52 mark of the second, St. Cloud would jump up by three, 23-20, until another 7-0 by the Wolves put them up 27-23 with just over a minute left of the half. The Huskies trailed 27-25 at half. During the third, SCSU jumped on top 31-29 two minutes in. From there, NSU would jump back on top while holding the lead for the rest of the third with the largest point deficit being six for the Huskies. The period would end with SCSU down 42-37. In the fourth it would be a four point, 46-42, game with 5:07 left. With just under two, St. Cloud trailed 53-47. NSU would seal the game at the foul line with the Huskies dropping 59-50.

Against MSU Moorhead, The Huskies took an early 6-4 lead until MSUM jumped up 9-8. Then St. Cloud went back up 12-9. The period would end with it tied up at 14. During the second, MSU Moorhead never gave up the lead, outscoring the Huskies 16-7 with the period ending 30-21 in favor of the Dragons. St. Cloud struggled on offensive shooting .250 from the field in the second and .091 from the three-point line in both periods combined. The Dragons held the lead until the Huskies went on a 9-0 scoring run midway through the third to tie up the game at 35. SCSU would then be stalled on a 12-4 run by MSUM as the third ended with the Dragons leading 46-39. SCSU had a better offensive showing in the third outscoring MSU Moorhead 18-16 shooting .571. Moorhead led by eight thirty seconds into the fourth until SCSU rallied back to make it a one-point, 47-46, game. St. Cloud had a chance to take over the lead but a shot fell just short and MSUM hit a three to make it 54-50 with 30 seconds left. In the end St. Cloud fell 55-50.

St. Cloud State Huskies
The Huskies sit 15-7 overall, 12-6 in conference play. In the North Division, SCSU is currently tied with UMary for second place with this weekend's matchup determining who will secure that spot and a bye in the conference tournament. St. Cloud is fourth overall in the conference standings. Defense is St. Cloud State's specialty. The Huskies currently have the number two scoring defense in the NSIC. St. Cloud surrenders just 57.0 points to opponents. 5th-year senior forward Katrina Theis and freshman Jada Eggebrecht are the Huskies leading front. Theis is averaging 16.7 points while Eggebrecht averages 13.0 points per game. Tori Peschel is the team's leader in the rebounding department with 189 total rebounds this season averaging 8.6 per game. Additionally, Peschel is 2nd in the NSIC for rebounding and has the best assist/turnover ratio in the conference with a 2.4.

Minot State Beavers
Minot State enters the weekend 10-14 overall, 6-12 in conference play. Minot is seventh in the north and 12th in the overall standings. Last weekend, the Beavers split the weekend dropping to Bemidji State then rebounding back against Minnesota Crookston. Minot State is led by senior guard Kate Head as she averages 15.9 points per game with 4.4 rebounds. In addition, she has 81 assists and 34 steals on the season and is ranked seventh in scoring in the NSIC. Junior forward Natasha Elliott leads in rebounds with 4.7 per game. Freshman guard Eilborg Jonsdottir has 82 assists and the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the NSIC at 2.2.

St. Cloud State and Minot State will meet for the 20th time since Minot State joined the NSIC in 2012 as a Division II school. St. Cloud leads the series 15-4 over Minot. The last matchup between the two teams was earlier this season on Dec. 10 where the Huskies defeated the Beavers 57-55 in Minot.

UMary Marauders
UMary enters the weekend 13-8 overall, 12-6 in conference play. UMary is tied for second in the north and fourth in the overall standings with St. Cloud State. Last weekend, Mary came away with a weekend sweep of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. The Marauders are led by senior guard Megan Zander who leads the team in scoring and rebounds at 14.6 and 5.5 respectively. Additionally, Zander has 49 assists, 20 steals, and 11 blocks.

St. Cloud State and UMary will meet for their 28th matchup with St. Cloud holding the series advantage 17-11 over Mary. The last matchup between the Huskies and the Marauders was Dec. 9 with St. Cloud taking down UMary 71-61 in Bismarck.

Single game tickets are on sale at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State women's basketball, stay tuned on scsuhuskies.com and follow the teams on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

St. Cloud State Women's Basketball Gears Up for Key Conference Matchups

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Players Mentioned

Jada Eggebrecht

Tori Peschel

Katrina Theis

Saint Cloud State University Athletics