THIS WEEK In the midst of playing six of eight games on the road, the University of Mary women's basketball team visits a pair of teams on both sides of the Marauders in the overall Northern Sun standings. On Friday, Jan. 13, Mary visits the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears at Gangelhoff Center at 6 pm. The Marauders conclude this southern swing against the Minnesota State University Mavericks at the Taylor Center on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 4 pm.
 
RANKINGS
In 18 games this season the University of Mary has faced five ranked opponents. The Marauders 69-56 home win over Northern State on Saturday is the second time Mary has defeated a team ranked among the nation's top 25. In the third game of the season the Marauders knocked off #2 Cal Baptist 85-75. Mary has also faced #3 West Texas (L 51-42), #12 Pittsburg State (L 78-30) and #24 Minnesota State (L 73-53). (All rankings at time of game).

RANKINGS II
The Marauders have played seven games against teams currently ranked in the top 25 of the current WBCA poll or are receiving votes (#5 Pittsburg State, #11 Cal Baptist, #18 MSU Moorhead (twice), #RV Northern State (twice) and #RV Wayne State.

LAST TIME OUT Hannah Larson made 5-of-8 treys, scored 23 points and had 11 rebounds and Laura Rotunda made 4-of-5 treys and posted 19 points in the Marauders 69-56 win over #25 Northern State. Down by as many as nine, Mary used a 14-0 run to move ahead. The Marauders outscored the Wolves 15-9 in the third quarter. Mary shot 51.2 percent while holding NSU to 38.1 percent and 3-of-20 behind the arc... The Marauders shooting touch faded the next day to 35.8 percent in a 73-53 home loss to #24 MSU Moorhead. Morgan Ham made all seven of her 3-point attempts and led the Dragons with 21 points. Gabbie Bohl scored 19 points to lead UM. Hannah Larson was 4-of-5 on treys and added 14 points.

FUN WITH NUMBERS - 1
The Marauders are sandwiched in the standings between both the Golden Bears and the Mavericks by one win. The Marauders have four conference wins in ten games. The Golden Bears are sitting with five wins entering the weekend and the Mavericks have three.

HISTORY LESSON
Marauders vs. Golden Bears
The Marauders are 5-11 all-time against the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul has a 4-game win streak over Mary
Since joining the NSIC the Marauders are 4-11 against the Golden Bears with a 3-4 record at home, a 1-6 mark on the road and 0-1 in neutral site games
Mary's only win at the Ganglehoff Center was a 66-65 victory on Jan. 24, 2009.
Mary's last win was an 81-52 home victory on Feb. 17, 2012
LAST MEETING The Marauders saw an 8-point halftime lead slip away in a 96-75 home loss to the Golden Bears on Feb. 6, 2016. CSP was 15-of-27 on 3-pointers for the game, including a 10-of-14 second half effort, and shot 51.6 percent for the game. Mary shot 40 percent overall for the game, including a 30.6 percent effort in the second half. Brittney Dietz paced the Marauders with 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Hannah Larson and Rachel Weir both chipped in 16 points. Lauren Shifflett had 26 points for Concordia and Anna Schmitt and Mishayla Jones both added 21.

Marauders vs. Mavericks
The Marauders are 2-9 all-time against the Mavericks
Mary snapped a 5-game losing streak to Minnesota State last year with a 79-68 home win
The Marauders are 2-3 at home and 0-6 on the road against the Mavericks
LAST MEETING Hannah Larson blocked six shots and the Marauders never trailed after taking a 25-24 lead in the second quarter on their way to a 79-68 home win on Feb, 5, 2016. Brittney Dietz scored a game-high 29 points and had seven rebounds. Hannah Larson added 18 points and four assists and Dani Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds. Claire Ziegler and Britney Scherber had 20 points each for MSU.  

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL Golden Bears
2016-17 Record: 9-7 / 5-5 NSIC
Head coach: Amanda Johnson   
Record at CSP: 18-17 (2nd year)
After losing four straight games the Golden Bears rebounded to win their last two, at home against Augustana and on the road Tuesday at Minnesota State
Anna Schmitt is 3rd in the NSIC in scoring at 16.6 PPG and the only CSP player averaging double figures in scoring
Kyrah Fredenburg leads the NSIC in rebounding (10.3/game)
A veteran team, CSP starts two juniors and two seniors with a soph.
Both CSP and Mary have lost road games this season at Pitt State
CSP is in the middle of the NSIC in most statistical categories, ranking highest (5th) in both free throw percentage (.747) and blocks (3.9/game)

minnesota state university mavericks
2016-17 Record: 7-7 / 3-7 NSIC
Head coach: Emilee Thiese
Record at MSU: 85-47  (5th Year)
Career Record: same
In the midst of a 5-game losing streak
Have lost three straight home games, including a 72-61 decision to Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday
The Mavericks first five games of 2017 are scheduled for the Taylor Center
Sr. Brittney Scherber averages a team-high 11.1 PPG and is 42 points away from 1,000 in her career
The MSU bench has scored 20 points in eight of nine games
All-NSIC 2nd team player Claire Ziegler has missed the last three games. She is averaging 12.3 PPG and 8.5 rebounds/game

RADIO CHANGE FOR JAN. 7, 14 Marauders fans need to make a slight adjustment to their radios to hear the Mary men's and women's basketball games on Jan. 7 and 14. Instead of the Marauders home on Fox Sports 710, fans must tune to KFYR 550 AM to hear Rick Anthony call the contests.

HISTORY
Hannah Larson has a chance to finish her career in the top ten in four different statistical categories at Mary. The senior forward currently is 14th in scoring and needs 80 points to tie Jessica Slinde for 10th with 1,200. Larson is 11th in assists with 285 and just needs 15 to tie Slinde for 10th in assists. The Bismarck, ND, native is fourth in career rebounds with 774. Additionally Larson has 219 career blocks, an NCAA-era career-best mark for Mary.

HANNAH HIGHLIGHTS
All-Northern Sun forward Hannah Larson finds herself on the NSIC leader board in several categories:
Larson is 12th in the NSIC in scoring at 13.8 PPG
She is 9th in rebounding at 7.7/game
Larson is 2nd in blocks with 2.4/game
Four times this season she has posted a double double
14 times in 18 games Larson has reached double figures in points

TRUE BLUE
Christal Hearn, Lauren Rotunda and Cassie Askvig, all true freshmen, are making a mark this season. Rotunda has started all 18 games, leads the team in steals (24), is second in free throw shooting percentage (.818), is third on the team in playing time (29.7 minutes), 3-pointers (15) and rebounds (4.3/game), and is fourth in scoring (8.3 PPG)... Cassie Askvig is 4th on the team in scoring (8.2 PPG) and rebounding (4.1 RPG) in a reserve role and is making 81.5 percent of her free throws... Hearn joins Askvig in a reserve roll. The guard has played all 18 games and averages 13.6 minutes/game. She averages 1.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG. She tied her career-best with five points in the win over #25 Northern State.  

FRESHMAN FORCE
After missing last season due to injury, redshirt freshman Gabbie Bohl has become a force in the middle for the Marauders. The Minot, ND, native averages 11.9 points and 4.9 rebounds/game, is shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and has .7 blocks/game. All those figures rank second among Mary players. She leads the squad with 56 made free throws. Her numbers are even better in league play. In ten NSIC games Bohl is averaging 14.2 PPG and shooting 57.8 percent.

LEADER After playing limited minutes as a freshman and sophomore, senior Rachel Weir leads the Marauders in court time. She is playing 29.9 minutes/game. Weir, who averages 6.1 PPG and 4.0 RPG, shoots a team-high 51.3 percent from the floor, makes 69 percent of her free throws, is second on the team in steals (22) and is third in blocks (13).

WILLIAMS WATCH After a scoring slowdown prior to Christmas break, Dani Williams has been on a holiday high since returning. She has reached double figures in scoring each of her last four games, averaging 12.8 PPG. The junior guard has hit 10-of-20 treys and all nine of her free throws. Williams is also shooting 53 percent from the floor. For the year her scoring average is up to 9.3 PPG.

REJECTION The Marauders have blocked the most shots this season in NCAA Division II with 103. In blocks per game, the Marauders lead the Northern Sun with 5.4, the 11th best total in the country.

Block City Hannah Larson is averaging 2.4 blocks per game, second in the NSIC and 16th in the country. The senior forward is fifth in the country in total blocks (47).

Charity Stripe Mary has went to the free throw line 76 more times then its opponents. The Marauders have been to the free throw line 10-plus times in all but two games this season. Mary has had an advantage in free throws taken in 13 of 18 games. Despite the advantage in total attempts the Marauders have only made 34 more free throws than the opposition.   

RISE AND SHINE: The Marauders are outscoring its opponents 292-260 in the first quarter of games.

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