This Week: The University of Mary Women's Basketball team returns to action for the new season this week when they host Washburn University and Pittsburg State University in a regional crossover at the McDowell Activity Center. The Marauders will take on the Ichabods on Friday, November 13, starting at 7:00 PM, before hosting the Gorillas the next day at 5:30 PM.

The Records: This marks the first contest of the year for all teams after the Marauders lost to both Dickinson State University and South Dakota State University in exhibition matches. Washburn took on Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha in exhibition play with a loss coming to the Wildcats, but ended up defeating Nebraska Omaha. The Gorillas loss to both Kansas University and Kansas State in exhibition play, with the Wildcats coming away with an eight-point victory over Pitt State.

Coverage: Live Stats and any webcasts can be found at GoUMary.com/coverage

Last Year: The Marauders stumbled out of the gate as they dropped their first three games of the year, but started to turn it around as they took three of the next four. U-Mary had a 4-2 conference record going into the new year but fell before some of the top teams in conference as they lost five of their next six before concluding the NSIC schedule with an 8-14 record, 10-19 overall. The Marauders then paid a visit to Winona State University for the start of the conference tournament, but couldn't find the magic en route to a hard fought 67-62 loss. Brittney Dietz was the lone Marauder to make the NSIC All-Conference team as her solid play on the court earned her a spot on the 2nd Team All-NSIC.

Opening Series: The Marauders paid a visit to San Bernardino last year to comepte in the Tip-Off Classic hosted by California State University, San Bernardino, and U-Mary had their hands full as they fell to the Coyotes, 72-58. The Marauders then took on the Tritons from the University of California, San Diego, for the second game of the opening weekend and U-Mary ended up tying the Tritons at the end of regulation at 75-75. In the extra period, the Tritons pulled out all the stops and held the Marauders to nine points to make the score 89-84 final in favor of UC-San Diego. Dietz ended up with a career high 35 points on 8-for-20 shooting, including a 17-for-18 mark from the charity stripe.

Next week: U-Mary will take a short road trip next week to Rapid City, S.D., to take on South Dakota School of Mines on Wednesday, November 18, at 6:30 PM, before returning to Bismarck on Friday, November 20, for back-to-back games against Oglala Lakota College for Parent's Weekend at the MAC. The game on Friday will start at 7:00 PM while Saturday's contest will start in the early afternoon at 1:00 PM

History: U-Mary defeated South Dakota Mines in the only matchup at the Division-II level back in 2013 when the Marauders hosted the Hardrockers in Bismarck and won the game 90-73. U-Mary has never faced Oglala Lakota College while at the D-II level.

For more information, check out the full PDF release here.

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