Shaunna Knife continued her stellar play this season leading U-Mary to a weekend sweep and securing the Marauders the No. 2 seed in the North Division. On Friday Knife scored a career-high 24 points against MSU Moorhead as the Marauders held on for an 81-79 victory to lock-up a home playoff game for U-Mary. The senior forward followed up Saturday with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and four blocks against Northern State. One of the best all-around players in the league, Knife averaged 21.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3.5 blocks for the weekend. Already leading the NSIC in blocks going into the weekend, Knife is now averaging nearly 2.5 per game.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE -  The 23rd-ranked Vikings split in the final weekend of the regular season with home games against Upper Iowa and Winona State.  Faith Tinklenberg led a balanced Augustana offensive attack against Upper Iowa by  recording her first double-double of the season (12 points, 12 rebounds) to victory 82-69.  Five Vikings scored in double figures and 10 total Vikings scored int he game.  Augustana shot 50 percent from the field despite battling outside-shooting woes.  In the regular season finale, Winona State battled back from a 10-point deficit and eventually clipped the Vikings in overtime, 67-64.  Alex Feeney and Tinklenberg combined to score 38 points, but hot outside shooting by the Warriors opened the door for a comeback.  WSU shot 50 percent from deep and held Augustana to just 34.8 percent shooting.  The Vikings did tie an Augustana record with a perfect 10 for 10 shooting performance from the free throw line.  Augustana had locked up the No. 3 seed in the South Division entering the weekend and will host North Division No. 6 seed Minot State on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Helath Women’s Basketball Tournament.
#33 Faith Tinklenberg (G, 5-11, Sr., Pipestone, Minn./Pipestone Area HS) averaged 15 points and 10.5 rebounds as she recorded her first double-double of the season and led the No. 23 Vikings to a split this weekend at home.  Tinklenberg racked up team-highs in rebounds and assists with 12 each as the Vikings defeated Upper Iowa 82-69 on Friday Night.  Tinklenberg tied her career high in rebounds, matching her defensive rebounds with offensive boards at six each.   In Augustana’s overtime loss to Winona State, Tinklenberg paced the Vikings with 14 first-half points including a 4 for 4 performance in the first 20 minutes.  The senior guard finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, seven of which came in the second half or overtime.  

BEMIDJI STATE - #10 Morgan Lee (G, 5-7, Jr., Hayward, Wis. / Hayward HS) posted 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in an 0-2 home weekend for the Beavers. She scored 18 points Friday on 5-of-9 (55.6%) shooting from the field, a 3-of-5 (60%) performance from beyond the arc and a 5-of-6 (83.3%) showing from the free throw line. She also added five rebounds. Lee scored 14 points Saturday to finish the regular season scoring double figures in 19 of 26 games. She averaged 31.0 minutes per game on the weekend and shot 41.7 percent from the field.
BSU fell in its final two games of the regular season in a pair of NSIC home games Feb. 22-23. BSU lost 85-56 to University of Minnesota Duluth Friday, before suffering a 73-48 setback to St. Cloud State University Saturday. The losses moved the Beavers to 11-15 overall and 7-15 in league play. BSU finished seventh in the NSIC North and will be the No. 7 seed in the North for the NSIC/Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament, which begins first round play Feb. 27. The Beavers travel to play the No. 2 seed in the NSIC South, which is Minnesota State University, Mankato. Bemidji State is returning to the postseason for the first time since 2007-08. The Beavers lost to University of Mary on the road 80-78 in the first round of the 2008 tournament. BSU will play the Mavericks in Mankato, Minn. Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Beavers finished the regular season 4-8 on the road and played Minnesota State close at Taylor Center Feb. 8 and fell by the score of 69-59. All-time, Bemidji State trails MSU 13-26 in a series that dates back to 1976. BSU is 1-4 in the last five meetings.  

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - #40 Anika Whiting (F, 6-2, So., Ashland, Wis./HS) averaged 15.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of Golden Bear wins as Concordia captured the program’s fifth NSIC Regular Season overall championship, and the first NSIC South Division crown. She also had four steals and two blocks on the defensive end. After being held to 10 points, five rebounds and three steals in a win over SMSU on Friday, Whiting produced a 20-point, 9-rebound effort on Saturday against Sioux Falls. Saturday’s 20-point game was her 10th of the year. In 22 conference games, Whiting finished the year as the league’s second leading scorer (18.0), 12th leading rebounder (7.2), fifth leading shooter (.534) and was sixth in blocks (1.09).
 Junior Rachel Hansen averaged 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists while running the point for the Golden Bears in two wins, also making 8-of-9 at the stripe. She led the league in assists (5.5) and was also among the league leaders in rebounding (20th, 5.9) and scoring (26th, 11.2).
 The Golden Bears captured a fifth NSIC Regular Season overall championship, their first NSIC South Division championship and have topped the 20-win plateau for the 10th time in head coach Paul Fessler’s 13th season. It’s the program’s first 20-win season since the last time they won the league title in 2009-10 when the team went 26-6 and reached the NCAA Central Region finals (Sweet Sixteen). The season has been a remarkable turnaround for the Golden Bears under Coach Fessler with three key starters returning and a key reserve from last year’s team that went 11-17 overall and 8-14 in the NSIC – an 11-win turnaround in league play and 10-win overall turnaround with postseason play on the horizon. The team is ranked third in the Central Region Rankings with a new list scheduled to come out on Wednesday, and ranked #24 in the WBCA Division II Top-25 Coaches’ Poll with a new poll coming out on Tuesday. Concordia has won a league-high 13-straight games and concluded conference play with an 18-1 record in the final 19 contests. Concordia is the No. 1 seed from the NSIC South Division and will host the No. 8 seed from the North, Minnesota, Crookston on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Concordia is 20-4 all-time against UMC and has won the last 12 meetings. Concordia is 11-2 against UMC at Gangelhoff Center with an 8-game home winning streak that includes this season’s 69-44 win earlier in February. The two teams have only met in NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament play once, a 66-65 UMC win at Gangelhoff Center on March 5, 2003 in Concordia’s first year of NCAA & NSIC postseason eligibility after moving to Division II in 1999-00.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY - The University of Mary took care of business this weekend by finishing the regular season with a sweep and clinching the second seed in the North Division. With a win of MSU Moorhead on Friday, the Marauders clinched a home play-off game and by winning on Saturday against Northern State they locked up the second seed in the north and a match-up with Upper Iowa. U-Mary finishes the regular season tying their win total from a year ago when they advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
With a home play-off game locked up, U-Mary completed the weekend sweep with a 68-62 win over Northern State. Dietz sparked the Marauders off the bench for the second straight night. The redshirt freshman scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Dietz has now scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games. During that stretch Dietz is averaging over 13 points a game. Senior Laura Petersen (G, 5-10, Sr., Osseo, Wis./Osseo-Fairchild) also came up big finishing with 13 points and career-high 11 rebounds for her first career double double. With 827 career points, Petersen has now cracked U-Mary’s top 25 all-time scoring list. Despite a slow first half, Knife scored a game-high 19 points and led the Marauders in assists with six. The 5-11 senior continued her excellent defensive play finishing the game with four blocks. The Northern Sun’s leader in blocks, Knife has blocked three or more shots in a game 10 times this season.

MINNESOTA, CROOKSTON  -  UMC picked up a split on the weekend as the upset St. Cloud State University, the No. 1 team in the NSIC North, 75-67 Friday led by Katrina Moenkedick’s 19 points and nine points. Saturday, the Golden Eagles fell to University of Minnesota Duluth 78-64 on Senior Night. Brittani Wiese led the way with 21 points. The Golden Eagles are set to open the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Championship Wed., Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. against top-seeded Concordia University, St. Paul. UMC is the eighth-seed in the North for the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  -  UMD wrapped up the regular season portion of it schedule with a road sweep at Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, helping the Bulldogs salvage a .500 (11-11) season in conference play. Junior forward Katrina Newman paced the UMD offense, combining for 41 points (including a game-high 23 at Bemidji State on Friday) and racking up her eighth double-double of the season the ensuing afternoon. UMD now carries three straight wins into the Sanford Health/NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs will head to Winona, Minn., to take on Winona State in the first round of the tournament on Friday with the opening tip set for 6 p.m.

MINNESOTA STATE - The No. 21 Minnesota State University women’s basketball team finished its 2012-13 regular season campaign on an 11 game win streak as it clinched the second seed in the South Division and finished second overall in the NSIC. The Mavericks avenged their first loss of the season to the University of Sioux Falls by way of an 84-67 victory Friday evening and followed it up with an 80-62 win over Southwest Minnesota State in the closing game of the 2012-13 regular season Saturday at Taylor Center.
Junior forward Ali Wilkinson (6-0, Jr. Blue Mounds, Wisc.) continued the lead the Mavericks in an efficient way as she finished the weekend with 32 points and seven rebounds while connecting on 11-of-17 (65%) of her shots from the field. Wilkinson posted 22 points and 3 rebounds as MSU earned the 84-67 win over USF, recording her ninth game with 20+ points this season. Wilkinson finished the 2012-13 circuit with a ten point, four rebound contest against SMSU.

MSU MOORHEAD - Megan Strese (F, 6-0, Jr., Evansville, Minn. / Brandon HS) averaged 19.0 points and 14.5 rebounds per game for the Dragons in helping them to a 1-1 home weekend. She had a career-high 26 points to go with 15 rebounds in an 81-79 loss to Mary on Feb. 22. She followed with her second straight double-double -- 12 points and 14 rebounds -- in a 74-61 win over Minot State. Strese was also 18-of-23 from the free throw line on the weekend.
Junior Morgan Zabel had another solid weekend for the Dragons, averaging 16.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. She had a game-high 20 points in the Dragons’ 74-61 win over Minot State on Feb. 23. She shot 59.1 percent (13-of-22) for the week, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.

MINOT STATE -  Minot State split a pair of games in the NSIC regular season finale. The Beavers knocked off Northern State Friday in Aberdeen, S.D., 60-50, but fell Saturday 74-61 at MSU Moorhead. The Beavers finished in sixth place in the NSIC North with a 9-13 record and finished the regular season at 13-13 overall. #12 Sacarra Molina (G, 5-7, Sr., Hinsdale, Mont. / Hinsdale High School) in now one point shy of 1,000 in her career as she is stuck on 999 since the end of the first half in Saturday’s contest.  She scored a combined 20 points after a 15-point effort in Friday’s win. #24 Alisha Jones (G, 5-7, Jr., Killeen, Texas / Ellison High School / Temple Junior College) paced the Beavers Friday with a career-high 16 points and scored 22 total points on the weekend. #40 Carly Boag (F, 6-2, Jr., Tamworth, Australia / Abottsleigh High School) cooled off a bit from her torrid pace to combine for 23 points, 24 rebounds, 6 steals and four assists. The Beavers will play their first-ever NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament game at Augustana College Wednesday in the tournament’s first round.

NORTHERN STATE -  Alison Kusler (G, 5-9, Jr., Aberdeen, S.D./Central HS) averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Wolves, but could not propel the Wolves to victory in the final weekend of regular season play.  Kusler was 5-for-9 from long range, but struggled from inside the arc.  She was also 4-for-5 from the free throw line.  NSU retains its hold on the No. 4 seed in the North and will host a first-round tournament game on Wednesday.

SIOUX FALLS -  The Cougars closed out the regular season on a low note, dropping back-to-back road contests to No. 21 Minnesota State, Mankato (84-67) and No. 24 Concordia-St. Paul, 76-47. USF fell to 12-14 overall (9-13 NSIC) to finish the regular season under .500 for the first time since 2007-08, when the Cougars ended the year at 10-20. USF is the sixth seed in the NSIC South and will travel to MSU-Moorhead on Feb. 27 to face the Dragons in the tournament’s opening round.  The Cougars were on target Friday night versus the Mavericks, shooting 53% from the floor and 5-for-11 on threes but could not recover from their own mistakes. USF committed 22 turnovers that led to 25 Maverick points and combined with 10 offensive rebounds by MSU, the Mavericks used their extra possessions to their advantage. On Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul gave the visiting Cougars a rude welcome as they opened the game with a 17-2 run and never looked back. Alyssa Rushton netted point totals of 17 and 15 respectively to earn top scoring honors for USF. Laura Johnson scored a combined 23 points and also hauled in 14 rebounds.

SMSU - Rebekah Rolling (G, 5-9, Jr., Bancroft, Iowa / North Sentral Kossuth) averaged 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the Mustangs this past weekend in Southwest Minnesota State’s losses to No. 24 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 21 Minnesota State. The junior college transfer hit 10 of 17 shots from the field, including 3 of 8 from behind the arc to cap the weekend with a 58.8 shooting percentage. Rolling finished the weekend with 26 points - 15 coming versus CU and 11 versus MSU. Rolling is the third leading scorer this year for SMSU, her first as a Mustang, as she is now averaging 8.9 points per game. Rolling will look to lead the No. 8 seed Mustangs to victory over the No. 1 seed St. Cloud State this Wednesday in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference / Sanford Health Tournament.

ST. CLOUD STATE -   Jessica Benson: Averaged 18.5 points and 8 rebounds over the weekend, and is averaging 15.1 per game on the season. Benson made 13 of 22 (59%) shots from the field and 3 of 6 shots from three point range over the weekend. Benson posted 24 points against Bemidji State on Saturday, shooting 70% from the field to help her team clinch the NSIC North division title.

UPPER IOWA - The Peacock women’s basketball team closed out the regular season on the road this past weekend.  Upper Iowa lost to #25 Augustana and Wayne State.  Whitney Kieffer averaged 18.5 over the weekend thanks to her 28 points at Augustana; she also grabbed 11 rebounds per game.  Olivia Winkler had a big game, 15 points, against Wayne State to average 8.5 for the two games.  Upper Iowa finished the regular season in seventh place in the NSIC South and will travel to the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D. for the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.

WAYNE STATE - Jordan Spencer, a 5-11 sophomore forward from Millard West HS, averaged 15 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while leading the Wildcats to a pair of NSIC home wins over the weekend against Winona State and Upper Iowa.  She accounted for 14 points and nine rebounds and hit the go-ahead shot to help WSC edge Winona State Friday evening 53-50 and followed that performance with 16 points, five rebounds and a career-high five assists in Saturday’s 70-46 win over Upper Iowa.  For the weekend, Spencer shot 61.9 percent from the field (13-21) and was 4 for 5 at the free throw stripe.  Spencer has now scored in double figures in seven of her last eight games after starting the season scoring in double digits in the first 14 games.

WINONA STATE - Abby Busch, F, Jr., 5-10, Fairfax, Minn. (G-F-W) averaged 11 points and 8 rebounds as the Warriors split a pair of contests on their final weekend of the regular season. Busch started the weekend strong with a double-double against Wayne State, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She was 7-of-13 from the field while also collecting three steals. Busch added seven points and six boards the next night as the Warriors earned a victory over No. 23 Augustana. On the weekend Busch shot 42.1 percent while passing out five assists and collecting four steals.


Past NSIC Players of the Week
11/13/12: Whitney Keiffer - UIU
11/20/12: Becca Friestleben - WSU
11/26/12: Morgan Lee - BSU
12/3/12: Carly Boag - MISU
12/10/12: Ali Wilkinson - MSU
12/17/12: Ali Collins - MARY
1/2/13: Jordan Spencer - WSC
1/7/13: Anika Whiting - CU
1/14/13: Carly Boag - MISU (2)
1/21/13: Alex Feeney - Augie
1/28/13: Whitney Keiffer - UIU (2)
2/4/13: Brittani Wiese - UMC
2/11/13: Morgan Zabel - MSUM
2/18/13: Carly Boag - MISU (3)
2/25/13: Shanna Knife - U-Mary

#NSIC#