Saturday, March 2
Sioux Falls, S.D.
7:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
vs
UMary
Photo by: Martina Vue
St. Cloud State Women’s Basketball Set for NSIC Tournament Quarterfinal Contest
3/1/2024 12:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Huskies meet UMary Saturday at 7 p.m. in Sioux Falls for third season matchup
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Seventh-seeded St. Cloud State Women's Basketball (18-9, 14-8 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) is set to face off against second-seeded UMary (20-10, 16-6 NSIC), for the third time this season, in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals Saturday night. The game will tipoff at 7 p.m. from the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Tickets are available for purchase here. Live coverage will be available on Midco Sports and Midco Sports Plus (note – a subscription is required) and The Varsity Network. Steve Linzmeier, the Voice of St. Cloud State Basketball, can be heard on The Varsity Network broadcast. Live stats will be provided by the NSIC. Links to each coverage option can also be found on the St. Cloud State Women's Basketball schedule page.
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
St. Cloud State now has a 16-11 all-time record in the NSIC Tournament after taking down Minot State at Halenbeck Hall Wednesday night.
THE BRACKET
The winner of St. Cloud State and UMary plays the winner of the third-seeded Concordia St.-Paul Golden Bears and the sixth-seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (who play Sunday night at 7 p.m.) on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls. To see the full bracket and all the information regarding the 2024 NSIC Women's Basketball Tournament, click here. Information on the Sanford Sports site can be accessed here.
ALL-CONFERENCE HUSKIES
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) and sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) earned All-Conference honors from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), as announced by the league office Thursday morning. Both were named to the All-NSIC Second Team. Eggebrecht is now a two-time Second Team selection and Sawicki was cited for the first time after a breakout season for the Huskies.
This season, Eggebrecht leads the team in scoring average (12.0) and minutes per game (29.4). She also averages 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.9 steals per game. She is shooting 42.9% from the field, 37.5% from three and 87.5% from the line. She ranks 24th in the NSIC in scoring. This season she has posted career highs in minutes (39), three pointers (five – tie), blocks (two) and steals (four). She was named to the NSIC Shining 5 on Nov. 27 for the first time in her career. Eggebrecht is the ninth player to earn All-NSIC honors in back-to-back years. The most recent players were Tori Wortz (2021, 2022), Nikki Kilboten (2020, 2021, 2022) and Brehna Evans (2021, 2022).
Sawicki leads the team in rebounding average (7.1), field goal percentage (47.9), and blocks average (1.3). She is second in scoring (11.0) and steals average (1.2). In the NSIC this season, she ranks second in offensive rebounding average, fifth in blocks average and tied for fifth in rebounding average. She has posted her first six career double-doubles this season. This season, she has posted career highs in points (22), minutes (28), field goals (eight), field goal attempts (15), free throws (10), free throw attempts (11), rebounds (13), assists (five), blocks (five – tie) and steals (five). Sawicki was named to the NSIC Shining 5 four times (Dec. 18, 2023, Jan. 22, Feb. 5 and Feb. 12).
LAST TIME OUT
The seventh-seeded St. Cloud State Women's Basketball stopped its two-game skid and defended Halenbeck Hall in its First Round NSIC Tournament tilt against tenth-seeded Minot State Wednesday night, taking down the Beavers, 78-61.
The Huskies were clicking on all cylinders early in the game, jumping out to an 11-0 lead just over four minutes into the game. The Beavers scored their first point at the 5:30 mark and closed the quarter on a 10-7 run to trim their deficit to eight after the first 10 minutes.
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) got off to a nice start, scoring seven points in the first quarter on 3-of-4 shooting as the Huskies shot 66.7% (8-of-12) as a team.
SCSU's lead never dipped below seven points for the remainder of the quarter and it went into the half, leading 31-22. Eggebrecht scored six of the Huskies' 13 points in the quarter and shot 3-of-4 from the field again, giving her 13 first half points on an extremely efficient 6-of-8 shooting.
The Huskies shot over 50% from the field in the first half and held MISU to 25.8% (8-of-31) from the field and 13.3% (2-of-15) from three-point range.
St. Cloud State stretched its lead throughout the third quarter before taking its biggest advantage of the game, 20 points, with just under a minute left in the period. Senior forward Jasmine Litt (Pulaski, Wis.) carried some of her momentum over from the regular season finale as she scored seven points in the third on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
Minot State was able to get its deficit under 10 points on three occasions in the final quarter of play but was never able to get closer than eight points. The Huskies knocked down 12-of-13 (92.3%) of their free throws in the fourth to seal the victory.
Senior forward Dru Henning (Mukwonago, Wis.) and senior guard Tori Peschel (Sauk Centre, Minn.) each had perfect fourth quarters while playing the entire 10 minutes. Henning scored seven points on 2-of-2 from the field including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the line. Peschel poured in seven of her own points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
The Beavers kept pace in the fourth quarter, making all 10 of their free throw attempts while also matching SCSU's 25 points. Maya Aguilar scored 11 of her 18 points in the final 10 minutes.
The Huskies took the game, 78-61 and outshot Minot State 51% to 30.3%.
Eggebrecht scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field while grabbing four rebounds. Henning stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. She made 5-of-7 shots from the field, 2-of-3 from three and both of her free throws. Sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She made 6-of-9 shots from the field.
Litt scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Senior guard Morgan Draheim (Hortonville, Wis.) scored 10 points and dished out a career/game-high eight assists. Peschel scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Makenna Vanzant (Farmington, Ark.) tied her career-high, grabbing six rebounds.
Highlights from the game can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
St. Cloud State Team Stats (NSIC Rank)
Saturday's game against UMary will be the 31st matchup between the teams. St. Cloud State holds a 20-10 advantage and has won seven consecutive games against the Marauders including both matchups this season.
The Huskies took down UMary, 60-53 at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D. on December 12 and defended Halenbeck Hall from the Marauders on February 8, winning 58-45.
SCOUTING UMARY
The Marauders come into Thursday with a record of 20-10 and a 16-6 conference record. The Marauders have won three straight games and five of their last six. They finished second in the NSIC and earned a bye in the first round of the NSIC Tournament.
Graduate student Lexie Schneider comes into the game nearly averaging a double-double and leads the NSIC in scoring with 20.4 points per game and rebounding with 9.2 per game. Schneider shoots 54.2% from the field which also leads the conference. She leads the Marauders in assists per game with 2.5 and is second in steals and blocks with 1.3 and 1.0 per game respectively. The conference awarded Schneider NSIC Player of the Week for the sixth time this season on Monday after she averaged 24 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in the Marauders two victories over Wayne State and Augustana. The graduate student has posted 14 double-doubles this season and was named NSIC Player of the Year on Thursday.
Graduate student Megan Zander is the team's second leading scorer with an average of 13.1 points per game on 40% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. Zander leads the team in steals with 1.4 per game. She is second on the team in rebounding and assists as she averages 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. She was named to All-NSIC First Team on Thursday.
Graduate student Mariah McKeever is the final Marauder that scores in double-figures with 12.1 points per game on 38% from the field and 41% from three-point range. McKeever also averages 3.5 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game and 1.2 steals. She was named to the All-NSIC Second Team on Thursday.
In the first game against St. Cloud State, Schneider posted a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double in 34 minutes of play. She shot 50% from the field, dished out three assists and recorded a block. Zander and McKeever were both held under their scoring average as Zander scored four points and McKeever contributed eight points.
In the second matchup between the teams, Schneider posted just six points and one rebound after fouling out in 18 minutes of action. Zander tied for the team lead in points with 10. She also led the team in rebounds – eight, blocks – three and steals – three in 38 minutes. McKeever was held to one point on 0-of-11 shooting from the field including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, making one of her two free throw attempts.
Rick Neumann closing out his 12th season as the head coach of UMary. Neumann currently holds a 181-156 record in his tenure with the program with five winning seasons and 13 or more wins in nine of his 12 seasons. Neumann has been rooted in UMary for multiple decades as he was an assistant coach with the program since 2003 and graduated from UMary in 1998.
UMary Team Stats (NSIC Rank)
Sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) was named to the NSIC Women's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Feb. 12 for her contributions throughout the previous week in SCSU's two wins. Sawicki averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 blocks on 54.5% (12-of-22) shooting from the field in wins over UMary and Minot State. It was the second consecutive week and fourth time this season (and of her career) that she received Shining 5 honors.
She posted her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the Huskies 58-45 win over UMary. She made 6-of-10 shots and blocked two shots. In the Huskies' comeback win at Minot State, she stuffed the stat sheet, posting 12 points, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
She also received the honor on Dec. 18, 2023, Jan. 22, 2024 and Feb. 5, 2024.
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) was named to the NSIC Women's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Nov. 27 for her contributions that weekend. Eggebrecht averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 35 minutes per game while scoring a season-high 16-points against Northern Michigan. The honor was the first of Eggebrecht's career.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Tickets are available for purchase here. Live coverage will be available on Midco Sports and Midco Sports Plus (note – a subscription is required) and The Varsity Network. Steve Linzmeier, the Voice of St. Cloud State Basketball, can be heard on The Varsity Network broadcast. Live stats will be provided by the NSIC. Links to each coverage option can also be found on the St. Cloud State Women's Basketball schedule page.
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
St. Cloud State now has a 16-11 all-time record in the NSIC Tournament after taking down Minot State at Halenbeck Hall Wednesday night.
THE BRACKET
The winner of St. Cloud State and UMary plays the winner of the third-seeded Concordia St.-Paul Golden Bears and the sixth-seeded Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (who play Sunday night at 7 p.m.) on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls. To see the full bracket and all the information regarding the 2024 NSIC Women's Basketball Tournament, click here. Information on the Sanford Sports site can be accessed here.
ALL-CONFERENCE HUSKIES
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) and sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) earned All-Conference honors from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), as announced by the league office Thursday morning. Both were named to the All-NSIC Second Team. Eggebrecht is now a two-time Second Team selection and Sawicki was cited for the first time after a breakout season for the Huskies.
This season, Eggebrecht leads the team in scoring average (12.0) and minutes per game (29.4). She also averages 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.9 steals per game. She is shooting 42.9% from the field, 37.5% from three and 87.5% from the line. She ranks 24th in the NSIC in scoring. This season she has posted career highs in minutes (39), three pointers (five – tie), blocks (two) and steals (four). She was named to the NSIC Shining 5 on Nov. 27 for the first time in her career. Eggebrecht is the ninth player to earn All-NSIC honors in back-to-back years. The most recent players were Tori Wortz (2021, 2022), Nikki Kilboten (2020, 2021, 2022) and Brehna Evans (2021, 2022).
Sawicki leads the team in rebounding average (7.1), field goal percentage (47.9), and blocks average (1.3). She is second in scoring (11.0) and steals average (1.2). In the NSIC this season, she ranks second in offensive rebounding average, fifth in blocks average and tied for fifth in rebounding average. She has posted her first six career double-doubles this season. This season, she has posted career highs in points (22), minutes (28), field goals (eight), field goal attempts (15), free throws (10), free throw attempts (11), rebounds (13), assists (five), blocks (five – tie) and steals (five). Sawicki was named to the NSIC Shining 5 four times (Dec. 18, 2023, Jan. 22, Feb. 5 and Feb. 12).
LAST TIME OUT
The seventh-seeded St. Cloud State Women's Basketball stopped its two-game skid and defended Halenbeck Hall in its First Round NSIC Tournament tilt against tenth-seeded Minot State Wednesday night, taking down the Beavers, 78-61.
The Huskies were clicking on all cylinders early in the game, jumping out to an 11-0 lead just over four minutes into the game. The Beavers scored their first point at the 5:30 mark and closed the quarter on a 10-7 run to trim their deficit to eight after the first 10 minutes.
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) got off to a nice start, scoring seven points in the first quarter on 3-of-4 shooting as the Huskies shot 66.7% (8-of-12) as a team.
SCSU's lead never dipped below seven points for the remainder of the quarter and it went into the half, leading 31-22. Eggebrecht scored six of the Huskies' 13 points in the quarter and shot 3-of-4 from the field again, giving her 13 first half points on an extremely efficient 6-of-8 shooting.
The Huskies shot over 50% from the field in the first half and held MISU to 25.8% (8-of-31) from the field and 13.3% (2-of-15) from three-point range.
St. Cloud State stretched its lead throughout the third quarter before taking its biggest advantage of the game, 20 points, with just under a minute left in the period. Senior forward Jasmine Litt (Pulaski, Wis.) carried some of her momentum over from the regular season finale as she scored seven points in the third on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
Minot State was able to get its deficit under 10 points on three occasions in the final quarter of play but was never able to get closer than eight points. The Huskies knocked down 12-of-13 (92.3%) of their free throws in the fourth to seal the victory.
Senior forward Dru Henning (Mukwonago, Wis.) and senior guard Tori Peschel (Sauk Centre, Minn.) each had perfect fourth quarters while playing the entire 10 minutes. Henning scored seven points on 2-of-2 from the field including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the line. Peschel poured in seven of her own points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
The Beavers kept pace in the fourth quarter, making all 10 of their free throw attempts while also matching SCSU's 25 points. Maya Aguilar scored 11 of her 18 points in the final 10 minutes.
The Huskies took the game, 78-61 and outshot Minot State 51% to 30.3%.
Eggebrecht scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field while grabbing four rebounds. Henning stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. She made 5-of-7 shots from the field, 2-of-3 from three and both of her free throws. Sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. She made 6-of-9 shots from the field.
Litt scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Senior guard Morgan Draheim (Hortonville, Wis.) scored 10 points and dished out a career/game-high eight assists. Peschel scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Makenna Vanzant (Farmington, Ark.) tied her career-high, grabbing six rebounds.
Highlights from the game can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
St. Cloud State Team Stats (NSIC Rank)
- 63.3 points per game (9th) | 57.5 points per game allowed (1st) | 5.8 scoring margin (5th)
- 39.8 field goal percentage (7th) | 33.3 three-point percentage (2nd) | 72.5 free throw percentage (6th)
- 38.9 opponent field goal percentage (5th) | 27.1 opponent three-point percentage (2nd)
- 36.4 rebounds per game (9th) | 11.1 offensive rebounds per game (6th)
- 34.2 opponent rebounds per game (2nd) | 2.2 rebounding margin (6th)
- 14.5 turnovers per game (8th) | 2.0 turnover margin (2nd)
- 3.7 blocks per game (6th)
- 8.7 steals per game (2nd)
- 14.8 assists per game (2nd)
Saturday's game against UMary will be the 31st matchup between the teams. St. Cloud State holds a 20-10 advantage and has won seven consecutive games against the Marauders including both matchups this season.
The Huskies took down UMary, 60-53 at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D. on December 12 and defended Halenbeck Hall from the Marauders on February 8, winning 58-45.
SCOUTING UMARY
The Marauders come into Thursday with a record of 20-10 and a 16-6 conference record. The Marauders have won three straight games and five of their last six. They finished second in the NSIC and earned a bye in the first round of the NSIC Tournament.
Graduate student Lexie Schneider comes into the game nearly averaging a double-double and leads the NSIC in scoring with 20.4 points per game and rebounding with 9.2 per game. Schneider shoots 54.2% from the field which also leads the conference. She leads the Marauders in assists per game with 2.5 and is second in steals and blocks with 1.3 and 1.0 per game respectively. The conference awarded Schneider NSIC Player of the Week for the sixth time this season on Monday after she averaged 24 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in the Marauders two victories over Wayne State and Augustana. The graduate student has posted 14 double-doubles this season and was named NSIC Player of the Year on Thursday.
Graduate student Megan Zander is the team's second leading scorer with an average of 13.1 points per game on 40% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. Zander leads the team in steals with 1.4 per game. She is second on the team in rebounding and assists as she averages 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists. She was named to All-NSIC First Team on Thursday.
Graduate student Mariah McKeever is the final Marauder that scores in double-figures with 12.1 points per game on 38% from the field and 41% from three-point range. McKeever also averages 3.5 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game and 1.2 steals. She was named to the All-NSIC Second Team on Thursday.
In the first game against St. Cloud State, Schneider posted a 23-point, 10-rebound double-double in 34 minutes of play. She shot 50% from the field, dished out three assists and recorded a block. Zander and McKeever were both held under their scoring average as Zander scored four points and McKeever contributed eight points.
In the second matchup between the teams, Schneider posted just six points and one rebound after fouling out in 18 minutes of action. Zander tied for the team lead in points with 10. She also led the team in rebounds – eight, blocks – three and steals – three in 38 minutes. McKeever was held to one point on 0-of-11 shooting from the field including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, making one of her two free throw attempts.
Rick Neumann closing out his 12th season as the head coach of UMary. Neumann currently holds a 181-156 record in his tenure with the program with five winning seasons and 13 or more wins in nine of his 12 seasons. Neumann has been rooted in UMary for multiple decades as he was an assistant coach with the program since 2003 and graduated from UMary in 1998.
UMary Team Stats (NSIC Rank)
- 69.0 points per game (3rd) | 61.5 points per game allowed (3rd) | 7.5 scoring margin (2nd)
- 41.6 field goal percentage (5th) | 32.3 three-point percentage (5th) | 73.3 free throw percentage (3rd)
- 38.1 opponent field goal percentage (3rd) | 29.2 opponent three-point percentage (6th)
- 39.4 rebounds per game (4th) | 11.5 offensive rebounds per game (4th)
- 33.7 opponent rebounds per game (1st) | 5.7 rebounding margin (1st)
- 15.6 turnovers per game (3rd) | -1.07 turnover margin (7th)
- 4.5 blocks per game (2nd)
- 7.8 steals per game (6th)
- 13.3 assists per game (5th)
Sophomore forward Ashley Sawicki (Waunakee, Wis.) was named to the NSIC Women's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Feb. 12 for her contributions throughout the previous week in SCSU's two wins. Sawicki averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 blocks on 54.5% (12-of-22) shooting from the field in wins over UMary and Minot State. It was the second consecutive week and fourth time this season (and of her career) that she received Shining 5 honors.
She posted her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the Huskies 58-45 win over UMary. She made 6-of-10 shots and blocked two shots. In the Huskies' comeback win at Minot State, she stuffed the stat sheet, posting 12 points, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
She also received the honor on Dec. 18, 2023, Jan. 22, 2024 and Feb. 5, 2024.
Sophomore guard Jada Eggebrecht (Phillips, Wis.) was named to the NSIC Women's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Nov. 27 for her contributions that weekend. Eggebrecht averaged 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 35 minutes per game while scoring a season-high 16-points against Northern Michigan. The honor was the first of Eggebrecht's career.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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