LAST WEEK: U-Mary defeated Minot State on Tuesday, fell to #12 Augustana on Friday and defeated #22 Wayne State on Saturday. The Marauders have now won four of their last five games. Looking to avenge their 74-73 loss to Minot State on Dec. 1, U-Mary responded with a 70-58 victory. Starting out slow the Marauders exploded in the second half scoring 45 points on 58 percent shooting from the field. Ali Collins was dominant for the Marauders scoring 24 points and pulling in a career-high 14-rebounds. Down eight at intermission against Augustana, the Vikings went on an 11-2 run to open the second half as the Marauders fell 71-59. Shaunna Knife led the Marauders in scoring with 15 points. Behind clutch free throw shooting from Collins down the stretch (4-4 in the final 6.5 seconds), the U-Mary defeated Wayne State 57-54. Collins led U-Mary in scoring with 15 points and added 9 rebounds. 
 
This weekend will be alumni weekend for the Marauders as they host Minnesota Duluth on Friday and St. Cloud State on Saturday.
 
THE RECORDS: Minnesota Duluth is 7-5 in the NSIC (10-6 overall) and currently tied with U-Mary for third place in the North Division. St. Cloud State sits on game ahead of U-Mary with and 8-4 record (12-4 overall) in conference play and is tied for first place.
 
ALUMNI WEEKEND: U-Mary women's basketball will hold an Alumni Weekend on Friday and Saturday, January 25-26. On Friday there is the Coaches Luncheon at 12 noon. That night U-Mary will take on Minnesota Duluth at 6PM at the McDowell Activity Center. On Saturday both the men and women will be playing their alumni game beginning at 9AM. Alumni will be honored that night as the Marauders take on the St. Cloud State Huskies at 4PM.
 
REMATCH: Against UMD earlier this season U-Mary was plagued by turnovers (23) and poor second half shooting as they fell 71-61. Ali Collins paced the Marauders with 19 points and eight assists. Against St. Cloud State, the Marauders had a season-high 29 turnovers on their way to a 71-62 loss. Shaunna Knife was the Marauders' leading scorer with 16 points. 
 
RECENT HISTORY: Since joining the Northern Sun, U-Mary has faced Minnesota Duluth seven times. The Marauders trail the series 5-2 and have lost the past two meetings. This will be the ninth meeting between St. Cloud State and U-Mary since 2006-07. Currently the series is tied at 4-4. The Marauders had a three game winning streak in the series prior to this season. 
 
RANKED OPPONENTS: With the win over Wayne State Head Coach Rick Neumann recorded his first career win against a top-25 ranked team. Also with the win the Marauders have defeated the Wildcats each of the last two times they have faced when Wayne State is ranked. U-Mary beat #4 Wayne State last season, the highest ranked opponent they have beaten since joining NCAA Division II.
 
STEPPING UP: With starting post Kaitlyn Haag being hampered by injury the past few weeks, Shanara Clark has made her presence known. Starting her first career game against Winona State, Clark finished with a career-high 12 points to go with five rebounds. Clark has started four of the last give games, all four of which have been Marauder victories. 
 
DOUBLE THE FUN: Against Wayne State senior Shaunna Knife recorded her eight double double of the season good for 15th most in the country. Knife now has 14th career double doubles. Since joining the NCAA, Anna Skala holds the U-Mary single-season mark with 10 double doubles in the 2008-09 season.
 
MAKING PROGRESS: After starting the first twelve of the Marauders first 13 games Kaitlyn Haag has been missing from the starting lineup for the past five. Missing the Winona State and Upper Iowa games completely, Haag has come off the bench in each of the past three games. Haag corralled six rebounds off the bench for the Marauders against Wayne State and played her third most minutes of the season (25).
 
NECK AND NECK: Shaunna Knife and Ali Collins are neck-and-neck on the Marauders all-time scoring list. With 902 career points, Knife is 18th all-time in U-Mary history. Just 20 points behind Knife, Collins has 882 career points (20th all-time).
 
SPARK PLUG: Lindsey Sand has provided a much needed spark offensively for the Marauders off the bench the last five games. Averaging just 3.8 points prior to the streak, Sand has averaged 8.4 points in U-Mary's last five games including double digit performances against Winona State and Minot State. Against Minot State Sand scored a season-high 12 points all of which came in the second half. With the Marauders up just one at half, Sand came out hot shooting 4-5 from the field and 4-5 from the line in the second half. U-Mary is now 5-0 when Sand scores seven or more points.
 
SIXTH WOMAN: It appears as though red-shirting Britney Dietz last year has paid dividends this year for the Marauders. With 14 points and four rebounds, Dietz made her first career start against Augustana. Despite only starting one game this year, Dietz is playing the third most minutes and has scored the third most minutes on the team. Dietz's versatility has allowed Head Coach Rick Neumann to play her in multiple positions increasing her value even further. 
 
TOP 25: Shaunna Knife is now ranked 25th all-time in assists in U-Mary history. Knife is now the 10th player in program history to rank in the top 25 in points, rebounds and assists. Knife is 18th all-time in points, 11th in rebounding and 25th in assists. With 389 career rebounds, Ali Collins can join Knife with 3 rebounds. Collins currently ranks 20th in points, 10th in assists and 26th in rebounding.
 
BOMBS AWAY: With 7.8 three-point field goals per game the Marauders average the 14th most in the country. U-Mary has attempted 20 or more three pointers in 11 of their 18 games this season. One of the two game in which they did not attempt 20 was in their 14 of 19 effort against Dakota State. It is not just about volume for the Marauders as they are 12th in the country in three-point percentage at 37.6. On the season the Marauders are 7-0 when they make 10 or more three-point field goals. 
 
MARKSMANSHIP: Kelsey Peltier is quietly having one of the best three-point shooting seasons in U-Mary history. Shooting 52 percent (16-31) from beyond the arc, Peltier is well ahead of Kayla Rogers school record 46 percent. Peltier has made a three-point field goal in 11 of the 13 games she has attempted one or more.
 
BLOCK PARTY: With 4.9 blocks per game the Marauders are 20th in the country and third among Northern Sun teams. The Marauders had 10 blocks against St. Cloud State last time they faced, which tied U-Mary's single game record since joining the NCAA. Incidentally the other time the Marauders had 10 blocks was also against St. Cloud State (2/18/12). Shaunna Knife has led the attack leading the Northern Sun in blocks with 1.9 per game (29th in the NCAA). Knife recorded a career-high five blocks against both Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State earlier this season.
 
Up next U-Mary will continue their home-stand with Minnesota State University Mankato on Friday (2/1) and Concordia University-St. Paul on Saturday (2/2). U-Mary fell 52-49 against Minnesota State last season and split with Concordia. 

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