GAME NOTES

THIS WEEK: A four-game road swing starts this weekend when the University of Mary women's basketball team heads to the University of Minnesota Crookston and MSU Moorhead. The Marauders open against the Golden Eagles at 6 PM on Friday, February 3. U-Mary next plays the Dragons at 4 PM  on Saturday, Feb. 4.

THE RECORDS: The Marauders are 14-5 overall and third in the Northern Sun at 11-4... The Golden Eagles are 8-10 and 11th at 5-9 in the NSIC... The dragons have won three straight and are 9-9 and 8th in the NSIC at 6-8.

LAST OUTINGS: U-Mary split a two-game home set, defeating Bemidji State 77-59 before losing 54-49 to Minnesota Duluth... In the lone game of the weekend for MSUM and UMC, the Dragons went on the road to defeat the Golden Eagles 77-53.

HISTORY / LAST MEETING
U-Mary vs, MSU Moorhead: The Dragons lead the all-time series with the Marauders 19-9. Since joining the Northern Sun, the Marauders are 4-5 versus the Dragons... U-Mary shut down MSUM 63-54 on January 7, 2012 as the Marauders defense held the Dragons to a 25.8 [er cent shooting performance. Kaitlyn Haag posted 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead U-Mary. Ali Collins had 15 points and seven assists. Linda Murray added 13 points and eight rebounds and McKenzie Foster scored 10 points. Angie Jetvig had 19 points and nine boards for MSUM.

U-Mary vs. University of Minnesota Crookston: Since becoming a member of the Northern Sun, the Marauders are 9-1 against the Golden Eagles. U-Mary captured the first eight games in the series. U-Mary set a school record for three-pointers when the Marauders rained down 18 treys during a 111-72 road win last season... The Marauders controlled the paint in a 59-46 home win over the Golden Eagles on January 8, 2012. Linda Murray scored 16 points with nine rebounds and Kaitlyn Haag added 14 and eight. U-Mary held UMC to 30.9 per cent shooting. Megan Eul led UMC with 11 points.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Marauders have experienced tremendous success on the road this season, winning eight of 10 games and exceeding last year's total of six road wins. U-Mary's road sweep of NSIC foes Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State on December 16-17 was the Marauders first road sweep of conference foes since January 11-12, 2008.

SECOND TIME AROUND: The Marauders began their second tour of the Northern Sun last weekend at home against Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth. There are four teams U-Mary will not play twice in NSIC play: Winona State, Upper Iowa, Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State.

THREE: The Marauders are currently sitting solidly in third place in the Northern Sun. U-Mary is two games behind Augustana and Wayne State and two games ahead of Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth. U-Mary has seven games remaining in NSIC play.

11: The Marauders 11 Northern Sun conference wins already this season equals the best total for the squad since U-Mary joined the NSIC in 2006-07. The Marauders went 11-7 in 2007-08.

14: U-Mary has 14 wins this season with seven regular season games to play, exceeding last year's win total of 13.

WINNING SEASON CLINCHED: With 14 wins, the Marauders have clinched a winning season for the first time since going 15-12 in 2008-09. U-Mary finished 13-13 last year.

BENCH PLAY: The Marauders reserves have outscored the opponent's bench 13 times in 19 games. U-Mary is 3-3 in games where the opposing bench has had the scoring edge, with the losses coming against Minnesota Duluth, Augustana and Minot State, all at home. The Marauders wins are against St. Cloud State on the road and Wayne State and Bemidji State at home in the other contests.

BENCH PLAY 2.0: U-Mary saw a nine game streak where the Marauders bench outscored the opposing bench snapped last weekend in a win over Bemidji State. Minnesota Duluth also outscored the U-Mary bench the following day.  

DOUBLE DOUBLE WEEKEND: Linda Murray posted consecutive double doubles and averaged 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in two games last weekend. The junior forward opened the weekend with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in a win over Bemidji State. Murray followed with 18 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block against Minnesota Duluth. She now has five double doubles this season.

20 x 20: For the first time this season the Marauders had two players score 20 or more points in the same game. Linda Murray posted 23 points against Bemidji State and Shaunna Knife had 21. The point totals were career-highs for both Murray and Knife.

DEEEEEFENSSSSSE: U-Mary is one of the most difficult teams to score on in the nation. Teams are shooting an anemic 33.5 per cent from the field against U-Mary, 8th in the country. The Marauders allow just 60 points per game. Eleven times in 19 games the Marauders have held an opponent to 59 or fewer points.
SCORING: The Marauders are second in scoring in the NSIC, posting 68.3 points per game. The team's scoring margin of +8.3 pointer per game is fourth.

MAGNIFICENT MURRAY: Linda Murray has anchored the paint for the Marauders this season. The junior forward from Fresno, CA, averages 9.5 points and 7.7 rebounds and has posted a team-high 39 blocks. Five times this season she has posted a double double.  

POWERFUL POST PLAY: Marauders post players Kaitlyn Haag and Linda Murray have been a tremendous post pair for the Marauders this season. Murray starts and averages 9.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Haag is scoring 9.4 points and pulling down 6.6 boards per game in a relief role.

STAT STUFFER: JR G Ali Collins continues to post tremendous numbers all across the board for the Marauders. The Mandan, ND, native leads U-Mary in scoring (10.6 PPG), assists (3.4/game), steals (44) and free throw attempts (71). The dynamic guard also pulls down 5.2 rebounds per game. Collins snared 11 boards at Minnesota State, tying her career high. She barely missed a double double after scoring nine points.  

BENCH BOOST: SO F Kaitlyn Haag has provided a tremendous bench boost for the Marauders this season. Despite coming off the bench she is third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. She had a nine-game stretch of reaching double digits in points snapped in a home win over Bemidji State. In those nine games she averaged 14.2 points per game and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 53.8 per cent from the field and 79.4 per cent at the free throw line.

NATIONAL NOTE- TEAM: The Marauders rank in the top 64 nationally in several categories:
• 8th in field goal percentage defense (33.5)
• 18th in blocks per game (5.3)
• 30th in rebounding margin (+6.3)
• 53rd in three-pointers made per game (6.3)
• 51st in winning percentage (73.7)
• 59th in scoring margin (+8.5)
• 64th in Free Throw percentage (72.1)

NATIONAL NOTE - INDIVIDUAL: Several Marauders are mentioned among the top 100 on the NCAA individual stat leader boards:
• Kayla Schmidt 61st in three point field goals made/game (2.3)
• Ali Collins is 98th in steals/game (2.3)
• Linda Murray is 41st in blocked shots/game (2.1)
• Linda Murray is 83rd in double doubles (5)
• Kayla Schmidt is 92nd in three-point field goal percentage (30.3)

BOARD GAMES: The Marauders are first in the NSIC in rebounds per game (44.9) and third in rebounding margin (+6.2/game). The Marauders were out-rebounded three times in 17 games, losses to Augustana and Minnesota State and a win at Northern State.   

WINDEX: Linda Murray is the Marauders leading glass cleaner this season. Her average of 7.7 rebounds per game is fourth in the NSIC. Teammate Kaitlyn Haag averages 6.6 rebounds and is 11th in the conference. The Marauders are the only team in the league to have two rebounders in the top 11.  

BLOCK PARTY: The Marauders average 5.26 blocks per game, second in the NSIC. Leading the way is Linda Murray with 2.03 blocks per game, second in the NSIC. Shaunna Knife is 7th with 1.26 blocks/game.

DOWNTOWN: The Marauders are averaging 6.26 treys made per game, sixth among schools in the NSIC. Leading the way is senior guard Kayla Schmidt, who is fourth in the Northern Sun with an average of 2.26 treys per game.

CRIME SCENE: U-Mary averages 9.11 steals per game, third in the NSIC. Ali Collins is the leader of the crime ring, averaging 2.32 steals/game, third among NSIC players.  

ALL IN: Twice this season all 12 Marauders have scored in a single game; a win over Minot State and a loss at Concordia University. The squad nearly accomplished that feat against Johnson and Wales when 11 of the 12 players who appeared in the game scored.

SHARING THE LOAD: Eight different Marauders have reached double digits in points this season. Ali Collins scored 10 or more points 11 times, Kaitlyn Haag nine times, Linda Murray eight times. Shaunna Knife seven times, Kayla Schmidt six times, Laura Petersen five times, McKenzie Foster four times and Lindsey Sand twice.

SHARING THE LOAD v2: Five Marauders have led the team in scoring, including Ali Collins, Kaitlyn Haag and Linda Murray fives times each, Kayla Schmidt two times and Laura Petersen and Shaunna Knife once each.  

SHARING THE LOAD v3: Only one player averages double figures in scoring - Ali Collins at 10.2 PPG. Four players check in at over eight points per game: Linda Murray (9.5), Kaitlyn Haag (9.4), Shaunna Knife (8.5) and Kayla Schmidt (8.0). Right behind is Laura Petersen (7.3) and McKenzie Foster (5.9).

TAKING TURNS: Only twice this season has the same player led the Marauders in scoring in consecutive games, Kaitlyn Haag against SMSU, MSU and NSU. and Linda Murray vs. BSU and UMD. During one five game stretch five different Marauders have paced the team in scoring.

MAC ATTACK: The Marauders have won 33-of-53 NSIC home games the last six seasons and are 47-26 overall (9-4 2006-07, 10-3 in 2007-08, 8-5 in 2008-09, 7-6 in 2009-10, 7-5 in 2010-11, 6-3 in 2011-12) in the McDowell Activity Center. Since Fred Fridley became head coach in the 2003-04 season, the Marauders are 84-28 at home, which includes a 15-0 mark in 2004 and 10-0 in 2006.

TV TIME: The Marauders have two televised games remaining this season. The next appearance is February 17 on Midco Sports Net against Concordia University - St. Paul. The last broadcast is February 18 on the NBC ND Sports Network (KFYR-TV in Bismarck, KMOT-TV in Minot, KUMV-TV in Williston, and KQCD-TV in Dickinson) against St. Cloud State. U-Mary already appeared on Midco against Winona State on January 2 and University of Minnesota Duluth on January 28.