The Schedule: The University of Mary women's basketball is off to its best start since the 2012 season. The Marauders have won five straight games and after going 3-0 in its first homestand of the year, Mary travels to Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State this week. The Marauders travel to MSUM Friday at 6 p.m., and on Saturday Mary travels to South Dakota to face Northern State, with tip-off set for 4 p.m.

Last Time Out: Gabbie Bohl scored a career-high 29 points in 24 minutes of play as the University of Mary defeated Minot State, 67-54 Saturday, Nov. 26 in its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener. Bohl finished 11-for-14 from the field and hauled in nine rebounds, seven of which were offensive. She also connected on seven of her 11 free throws. The Marauders (6-3) struggled from the three-point line, shooting just 11 percent but scored 44 of its 67 points in the paint and shot 42 percent from the floor. Hannah Larson was the only other Marauder in double-figures as she finished with 12 points. She is now six points away from joining the 1,000-point club. Defensively, Larson finished with a game-high nine rebounds and also added two offensive rebounds. It was her third double-double of the season. She also finished with seven blocks and six assists. Mary held the Beavers to 29 percent from the field and 26 percent from the three-point line.

Magic Number: 8 - The Marauders longest winning streak in the NCAA D-II era is eight games. Mary has won five in a row after starting the season 1-3.

About Minnesota State University Moorhead: The Dragons are 4-1 this season and are coming off an impressive 51-44 win over No. 22 Northern State. Including NSU, MSUM has defeated Valley City State Maryville and Quincy this season. With its only loss to Harding, 62-54 in the first game of the season. Junior guard Cassidy Thorson leads the Dragons with 16.2 points per game. She averages 31.0 minutes per game and is making 51 percent of her shots and 46 percent of her three-pointers. She also averaged just over three rebounds a contest. Junior forward teammate Drew Sannes is the only other Dragon that is averaging in double-figures. Sannes is averaging 14.4 points per game, 11.6 rebounds per game and is shooting 45 percent from the field. MSUM is outscoring its opponents, 157-114 in the second and third quarters.
 
About Northern State: The Wolves are 4-1 this season and after winning its first four games of the season, NSU is coming off a loss to MSUM. The Wolves have two wins over Black Hills State, one win over Montana State, Billings and one win over Nebraska, Kearney. No. 22 NSU is lead offensively by junior foward Jill Conrad who averages 14.8 points per game. Conrad also averages 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.4 assists per contest. This season Conrad is shooting 53 percent from the floor and 90 percent from the charity stripe. Junior center Miranda Ristau is second on the team with 13.6 points per game and first on the team with 7.8 rebounds per game. Ristau is also shooting at a high clip, connecting on 53 percent of her shots. The Wolves are outscoring its opponents 70-47 in the second quarter.

The History: Dating back to 2007, the Marauders have lost 10 out of the 18 meetings with the Dragons. MSUM has won the last two meetings with the Mary but the Marauders have won four out of the last seven match-ups. Mary has beat NSU eight times in 20 tries, dating back to 2007. However, the Wolves have won the last five games against the Marauders by an average of 13 points. Mary won five straight games against NSU from 2012 to 2013 but haven't been so lucky in the last three years. 

For more information, check out the weekly game notes here.

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