NSIC Player of the Week
#21 Katrina Moenkedick
F, 5-10, So.,
Perham, Minn.
Perham HS
Minnesota, Crookston
Moenkedick averaged a double-double of 21.0 points and 10.0 rebounds as the Golden Eagles had a huge weekend with a sweep over Upper Iowa and Winona State. Moenkedick recorded a double-double in an 80-69 win over Upper Iowa Friday as she poured in a career-high 30 points with 11 rebounds on the night. Moenkedick was also huge defensively as she had six steals against the Peacocks. She went 10-of-16 from the field and was 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. Saturday against Winona State, Moenkedick added a near double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds as the Golden Eagles picked up huge win against the Warriors 71-58. Moenkedick went 4-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. On the weekend she finished the weekend shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 82.3 percent from the charity stripe.
2013-14 NSIC Women’s Basketball Notes
AUGUSTANA - #20 Rhianna Gullickson (F, 6-0, Jr., Alexandria, S.D. / Hanson HS) had a solid two games for the Vikings over the past weekend, helping them go 1-1. On Friday, the Alexandria, S.D. native recorded her first collegiate double-double with 12 points on 10 rebounds in a 88-76 Augustana win over U-Mary. Gullickson then followed up Friday’s performance by scoring a career-high 24 points in the loss to Minot State on Saturday in Minot, N.D. The junior shot 11 for 14 (78.7 percent) from the field in the loss, and also grabbed five rebounds. For the weekend, Gullickson averaged 18 points and 7.5 rebounds, while shooting 69.5 percent (16 for 23).
No. 13 Augustana went 1-1 this past weekend in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The Vikings started things off with a 88-76 win over U-Mary in Bismarck, N.D. on Friday night. Shaunteva Ashley scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the win. Emily Schulte chipped in 21 points and six assists, while Rhianna Gullickson notched her first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Augustana traveled to Minot State on Saturday to take on the Beavers, ultimately losing 88-71. Gullickson scored in a career-high 24 points in the loss, while Riley Nordgaard tied her career high with 20 points. The Vikings launched a season-high 38 3-pointers in the game.
BEMIDJI STATE - #54 Jessie Althoff (F, 6-1, R-Sr., Becker, Minn. / Becker HS) averaged 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game to help the BSU women’s basketball team to a 1-1 home weekend. After leading the team with 10 points in a loss to Winona State, she posted a 7-for-13 (53.8%) effort from the field to record 14 points in a win against Upper Iowa. In the win she added six rebounds, an assist, steal and a block. In 31.5 minutes per game she recorded just two turnovers.
The Bemidji State women’s basketball team (7-5, 3-5 NSIC) went 1-1 in a home NSIC weekend to begin the new year. The Beavers shot just 16.7 percent in a 62-31 loss to Winona State before rebounding and downing Upper Iowa 64-59 behind four players in double figures scoring. Bemidji State is fourth in NSIC games in field goal defense, allowing a 38.9 percentage to its opponents. BSU travels to Augustana College and Wayne State Jan. 10-11. In 13 all-time meetings versus Augie, the Beavers are 2-11. Against WSC, BSU is 1-4 in the last five meetings. Bemidji State is 1-3 on the road this season.
CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Rachel Hansen (G, 6’0”, Sr., Eagan, Minn. / Minnehaha Academy) proved to be a stabilizing force in the Golden Bears’ wins over UMD and SCSU this weekend. She was asked to play a different role as she spent more time off the ball and she responded by averaging 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals while shooting 52.6% from the floor on the weekend. Hansen forced her way to the free throw line 18 times, hitting 14 of them, in the two games. In addition to helping CU complete a sweep, she also reached a personal milestone by becoming the 25th member of the 1,000 point club at Concordia.
Concordia (11-4, 6-2 NSIC) picked up a weekend sweep against two upper echelon NSIC North teams in Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. On Friday against the Bulldogs the offense was clicking all night long as the Golden Bears easily set a new season high with 95 points in a 95-63 win. The 95 points were the most in a game for CU since a 108-74 win over U-Mary on February 18th, 2011. The Golden Bears went into the half shooting 48.4% and improved that number to 54.3% in the second half. They finished the game an impressive 35-68 (51.5%) from the floor, their best mark on the year. Concordia also set a season high with 28 assists on their 35 makes and tied a season high with nine threes made. On Saturday, Concordia once again seemed to hit everything as they made 57.7% of their shots in the first half. They led from start to finish and turned away every comeback attempt as they pulled out a 67-61 win.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY -Despite the University of Mary’s team struggles, Linda Murray (F, 6-2, Sr., Fresno, Calif. / Edison HS / Merced CC) continued her dominance with a pair of 20 point games and has now scored 20 or more six times. Murray started the weekend 20 point, 8 rebound performance against No. 13 Augustana. However, her most impressive statistic of the night was her career-high five assists. The following night the 6-2 forward posted 24 points and 11 rebounds against No. 14 Wayne State for her fifth double-double of the season. Murray finished the weekend going 22-for-35 (.629) from the field.
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON - Katrina Moenkedick (So., F, Perham, Minn.) averaged a double-double of 21.0 points and 10.0 rebounds as the Golden Eagles had a huge weekend with a sweep over Upper Iowa and Winona State. Moenkedick recorded a double-double in an 80-69 win over Upper Iowa Friday as she poured in a career-high 30 points with 11 rebounds on the night. Moenkedick was also huge defensively as she had six steals against the Peacocks. She went 10-of-16 from the field and was 10-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Saturday against Winona State, Moenkedick added a near double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds as the Golden Eagles picked up huge win against the Warriors 71-58. Moenkedick went 4-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. On the weekend she finished the weekend shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 82.3 percent from the charity stripe.
MINNESOTA DULUTH - UMD saw the return of its full cast as seniors Hannah Rutten and Katrina Newman returned to the court together for the first weekend of 2014, but the Bulldogs slipped up against a pair of ranked foes in No. 20 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 23 Minnesota State. Rutten had 14 points to lead the Bulldogs against Concordia, while Newman had 10+ points each night and led UMD with 16 points on Saturday night against MSU. Rutten and junior guards Danielle Flood and Jessica Newman each had at least 11 points on the night as the Bulldogs came from behind to take a second-half lead before the Mavericks’ hot shooting took it back in the closing minutes.
MINNESOTA STATE - No. 23 Minnesota State opened 2014 with a pair of home wins against NSIC North Division opponents, earning the 100-66 win over St. Cloud State Friday night before dropping the University of Minnesota Duluth 69-63 Saturday evening. The Mavericks connected on 49% of their shots from the field, 39.5% from behind the arc and 80% from the charity stripe. With the pair of wins, the Mavericks extend their program-best home winning streak to 23.
Senior forward Ali Wilkinson (Blue Mounds, Wis.) picked up right where she left off, netting 19 points and six rebounds against St. Cloud State, as the Mavericks earned the 100-66 win. Saturday, Wilkinson was held scoreless in the first half, before surging in the second half to score a game-high 21 points on a 7-11 shooting performance from the field including one three-pointer and a perfect 6-of-6 effort from the charity stripe in addition to nine rebounds, falling one rebound shy of her 30th career double-double, helping the Mavericks overcome a nine-point second half deficit to give MSU the 69-63 win. Wilkinson now averages 20.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game on the season.
MSU MOORHEAD - Morgan Zabel (F, 5-10, Sr., Northfield, Minn. / Northfield HS) led the Dragon offense during MSUM’s road wins at Sioux Falls (68-67) on Friday and at SMSU (70-52) on Saturday. The senior forward averaged 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game for the week while also shooting 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free-throw line. She had 18 points, six rebounds and two assists in the Dragons’ one-point win at Sioux Falls. She hit the game-winning basket in the final minute to put MSUM up one. Zabel followed with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in an 18-point win at SMSU. Zabel leads the Dragons at 15.3 points per game this season.
Additional note: MSUM returns home this weekend for the first time since Dec. 14. The Dragons will host two of the top teams in the NSIC, Concordia-St. Paul (on Friday) and Minnesota State, Mankato (on Saturday) as they look to climb the conference standings.
MINOT STATE - #40 Carly Boag (F, 6-2, Tamworth, Australia / Abbotsleigh) earned a pair of double-doubles including a season high 32-point, 14-rebound outburst as Minot State earned the program’s first-ever win over a ranked opponent with an 88-71 win over No. 13 Augustana College Saturday. Boag ended the weekend with 43 points, 24 rebounds, six steals, five assists and a block. She has seven double-doubles in 12 games this season and has scored 30 or more points in two of her last three games.
Minot State University earned its first victory over an NCAA Division II ranked opponent since joining the league three season’s ago as the Beavers salvaged a home split with an 88-71 win over No. 13 ranked Augustana College Saturday. The Beavers fell 84-57 to No. 14 Wayne State Friday. The win on Saturday helped the Beavers move into sole possession of second place in the NSIC North Division after the first weekend of North-South play. After giving up 12 of 22 shooting from beyond the arc to the Wildcats, MISU cooled off Augie to the tune of just 8 of 38 on 3s Saturday. The Beavers starting five nearly averaged double figures each in scoring as #40 Carly Boag (F, 6-2, Tamworth, Australia / Abbotsleigh), #21 Morgan Klose (G, 5-9, Jr., Fairview, N.D. / Fairview) and Katie Hardy (F, 6-0, Jr., Fairview, N.D. / Fairview) all hit for double figures both nights. Boag was a force on the inside as she poured in 43 points and grabbed 24 rebounds on the weekend, Hardy was solid with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Klose hit five 3-pointers on her way to 29 points. The Beavers will look for win No. 10 as they take their longest trip of the season, traveling to Upper Iowa Friday and Winona State Saturday.
NORTHERN STATE - Northern State University garnered two wins against Southwest Minnesota State (57-46) and University of Sioux Falls (64-57) this past weekend. The Wolves are now 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC. The women will be back in action next weekend from home as they take on Minnesota State Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul with game times set for 6 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively from Wachs Arena.
#32 Alison Kusler (G, 5-9, Sr., Aberdeen, S.D./Aberdeen Central HS) surpassed 1,000 career points in Northern’s victory over Sioux Falls this past weekend. Kusler entered the game just 13 points shy of the career marker after scoring 16 the previous night in Marshall as the Wolves topped the Mustangs 57-46. Kusler ended the night with the Cougars scoring 26 points total, while going 6-11 from the floor and 12-12 from the free-throw line. She also nabbed ten rebounds and seven assists, and connected for three of the teams five long range baskets on the weekend. The 42 point weekend boosted Kusler’s per game average from 15.9 to 17.0 points per game. She shot a season weekend best of 54.5 percent from the floor.
SIOUX FALLS - Coming out of the Christmas break, the Cougars (6-6, 2-6 NSIC) dropped both of their games at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls by a combined eight points. On Friday night, USF faced MSU Moorhead (7-4, 3-4 NSIC) who took down the Cougars 68-67 thanks to 18 points from the Dragons Morgan Zabel. After trailing by one-point at the break, The Cougars came out in the second half and looked to take control of the game, building their lead to ten points when Sam Knecht hit a jump shot with 14:14 left in the game. With just under three minutes remaining, USF’s Alicia Boe made a layup to give USF a 67-66 lead. Then with less than one minute left, the Dragons Morgan Zabel gave Minnesota State Moorhead a go-ahead bucket when she drove into the paint to and put the ball off of the glass to give them a 68-67 lead. The Cougars then brought down the court and Taylor Varsho took a shot from behind the arc, but her shot bounced off of the back of the rim. The loose ball was then grabbed by both teams and declared a jump ball, which gave USF the ball with 30 seconds left. After the inbounds pass, Varsho drove into the paint and kicked the ball out to an open Alicia Boe who’s three point shot was no good. Varsho then grabbed the rebound and put up one final attempt, but her shot came up short as the final buzzer went off. On Saturday, the Cougars looked to rebound as they faced Northern State. Ultimately USF came up short as the Wolves won 64-57. The first half was a struggle for the Cougars offensively as they ended the first half shooting 17.1% from the field. They improved mightily in the second half where they shot 57.1% and even took the lead in the game with a 14-3 run to open the second period. However, the Wolves Alison Kusler was too much for the Cougar defense to handle as she scored 18 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. The Cougars Jaicee Ulmer (G, 5-8, Jr., Canton, S.D./Canton HS) was a spark for the Cougars offensively through the weekend as she averaged 14.0 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field. Ulmer also grabbed eight assists, four rebounds and one block in the two games. The Cougars will take to the road this weekend as they travel to Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State.
SMSU - Bree Holleman (G, 5-8, Sr., Hancock, Minn. / Hancock) combined for 18 points, five rebounds, seven assists, five steals and just two turnovers in Southwest Minnesota State’s two losses this weekend to Northern State and MSU Moorhead. The senior guard played 67 minutes and finished shooting 33.3 percent from the floor (8 of 24). Holleman now has 17 steals on the season to go along with 39 assists and her 10.4 points per game average. Holleman and company are still in search of their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win this season and will look to end a 10 game losing streak on the road this weekend versus St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth.
ST. CLOUD STATE - The St. Cloud State University women’s basketball team didn’t start the New Year the way they wanted to. The Huskies traveled to Mankato, Minn. to take on #23 Minnesota State and fell to the Mavericks 66-100. Jessica Benson (Grand Meadow) led all players for the Huskies with 15 points on six of 10 shooting. Benson grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. The Huskies shot 43% from the field but suffered from an uncharacteristic 27 turnovers. The Mavericks led the entire game, scoring 34 points off of Husky turnovers and 51 points off the bench. On Saturday, the Huskies traveled to #20 Concordia, St. Paul and fell to the Golden Bears 61-67 after an intense second half battle. Jessica Benson (Grand Meadow) led all players with 19 points and 13 rebounds. This marked Benson’s eighth double-double of the season as she went eight of 13 from the field and recorded two blocks. Sam Price (Eau Claire, Wis.) finished with 14 points after shooting seven of seven from the free throw line. Price grabbed a team-high three steals. Lexy Petermann (Fond du Lac, Wis.) was the third and final Husky to score in double-figures. Petermann finished with 12 points, making two of four shots from three-point range. The Huskies drop to 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the NSIC. St. Cloud State will return to action on January 10 and 11 as they return home to Halenbeck Hall to take on Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls.
UPPER IOWA - The Peacocks dropped a pair of NSIC games on the road to open their 2014 slate. UIU lost to Minnesota Crookston 80-69 on Friday and then were edged out by Bemidji State 64-59 on Saturday. Whitney Kieffer led the offense with 18 points per game followed by Lauren Buck with 12.5 per game and Lindsay Carroll with 10 per contest. Sam Thrapp paced the offense with 4 assists a game, while Buck led UIU’s efforts on the glass with 8.5 rebounds per game and Kieffer added 7 boards an outing. Upper Iowa will return to the friendly confines of Dorman Gymnasium this weekend for a pair of NSIC cross-division games against Minot State University and the University of Mary on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 10-11.
WAYNE STATE - Ashton Yossi, a 5-8 junior guard from Dallas Center, Iowa (Dallas Center-Grimes HS), averaged 16.5 points per game in helping the #14 Wildcats win NSIC road games over the weekend at Minot State and the University of Mary. Yossi scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting Friday in a 84-57 win at Minot State and added a team-high 19 points, making 9 of 9 free throws, in Saturday’s 75-67 win at the University of Mary. For the weekend, Yossi made 10 of 17 field goals (.588) and 9 of 9 (1.000) from the free throw line as Wayne State maintained its hold on first place in the NSIC, now 14-1 overall and 7-1 in league play.
WINONA STATE - Tessa Wells, G, Sr., 5-7, River Falls, Wis. (River Falls) led Winona State by averaging 14.5 points and 5.5 assists as the Warriors beat Bemidji State and lost to Minnesota Crookston on the road last weekend. Wells played her best game of the weekend against UMC, scoring a career-high 19 points while handing out nine assists. She also scored ten points in a 62-31 win over Bemidji State, adding a pair of assists in the contest. Wells shot 52 percent from the floor on the weekend (12-of-23) while also averaging a pair of rebounds per game. The senior also picked up a pair of steals.
Past NSIC Players of the Week
11/11/13 - Jordan Spencer - WSC
11/18/13 - Carly Boag - MISU
11/25/13 - Hannah Rutten - UMD
12/2/13 - Jordan Spencer - WSC (2)
12/9/13 - Hannah Rutten - UMD (2)
12/19/13 - Anika Whiting - CU
12/23/13 - Kate Warmack - BSU
1/6/14 - Katrina Moenkedick - UMC