THIS WEEK
The University of Mary women's basketball spends the final weekend of the regular season on the road in pursuit of the final home playoff berth for the Northern Sun tournament. One game back of fourth place, the Marauders visit Bemidji State University and the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17-18. The Marauders open against the Beavers on Friday at 6 pm before concluding the regular season against the Golden Eagles on Saturday at 4 pm.    

THE RECORD
After splitting a pair of home games last weekend, the Marauders are 13-15 overall and 8-12 in the NSIC. Mary is 11th overall in the Northern Sun and 5th in the NSIC North division.

NSIC PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
With two games left to play in the NSIC regular season, the Marauders are one game behind St. Cloud State for fourth place in the NSIC North and a home playoff game (the top four teams in the NSIC North and NSIC South host opening round games on Wednesday, Feb. 22). While Mary faces the 6th and 7th place teams in the NSIC North on the road in UMC and BSU, SCSU hosts the top two teams in the North (MSU Moorhead and Northern State). Should the Marauders and Huskies tie for fourth place, it is belived Mary holds the tiebreaker. The two teams split their regular season series but Mary would have the better North division record should the two tie. If SCSU sweeps the weekend, though, Mary is unable to catch the Huskies and will open the tournament on the road.

NSIC TOURNAMENT INFO
The NSIC / Sanford Health basketball tournament begins on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at home sites. The top seed in the NSIC North hosts the 8th seed in the NSIC South, #2 NSIC North hosts #7 NSIC South, #3 NSIC North hosts #6 NSIC South and #4 NSIC North hosts #5 NSIC South. Additionally the #1 NSIC South hosts #8 NSIC North, #2 NSIC South hosts #7 NSIC North, #3 NSIC South hosts #6 NSIC North and #4 NSIC South hosts #5 NSIC North. The eight first round winners advance to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD, for the next three rounds. The quarterfinals are Saturday, Feb. 25, with the semifinals on Monday, Feb. 27 and the championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The winner of the conference tournament advances to the NCAA regional tournament.

SPLITSVILLE
The Marauders have played ten weelend doubleheaders this season and have split seven times. Mary was swept three times. The Marauders have yet to win both games of a weekend series.

SENIOR DAY
This is the last regular season weekend for two Marauders seniors, Hannah Larson and Rachel Weir. Here are comments head coach Rick Neuman made about both for senior weekend...

Rachel Weir: "Rachel Weir is a testament to everything that is good about college athletics. She came to UMary solely on an academic scholarship with a chance to walk-on to our basketball team. Rachel took that opportunity and has exceeded everyone's expectations. She has been a starter for her last 2 seasons and earned a full scholarship. She has practically lived in the gym for 5 years, improving her game every year. Rachel is the glue of our team, frequently filling all of the hustle stats in a box score. This season Rachel has become a Captain of our basketball team and her leadership of our young team has been invaluable to our success. Rachel's story is one that I will proudly share with future generations of Marauders."

Rachel leads the Marauders in shooting percentage at over 50 percent and in minutes played. She has made over half her shots for her career. Since moving into the starting rotation last year she has started 50 games.

Hannah Larson: "Hannah Larson is the first student-athlete to commit to UMary Women's Basketball while I have been the head coach. She was a highly decorated athlete in high school, winning multiple state championships as well as the ND Miss Basketball award. She has started every game in her Marauders career and experienced great success both on and off the court. She set the school record for career blocked shots and will be highly visible in the all-time records section of our program in scoring, rebounding, and assists. She is an All-Conference performer as well as a Miles Brand Award winner.She is a Captain of our team and her leadership and work ethic have been tremendous this season. She is the model of determination and performance that will serve as the standard for years to come. I will always be thankful to Hannah for believing in me as a Coach and setting the framework for our future accomplishments."

Hannah will finish her career with among the Marauders all-time leaders in points, rebounds, blocks and assists. She is currently tenth in points with over 1,240, tenth in assists, fourth in rebounds with over 840 and the school leader in blocks.

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders split a pair of home games last weekend. In a battle between two teams tied for fourth in the NSIC North, St. Cloud State rallied past Mary 82-74. Gabbie Bohl made 10-of-16 field goals, eight free throws and scored 28 points. She also had eight rebounds. Hannah Larson added 25 points, four rebounds and three blocks. She made both trey attempts and all six free throws. Mary was 18-of-18 at the line. Cassie Askvig added 11 off the bench for Mary, who led 40-29 at the half.Betsy MacDonald scored 21 points for SCSU... Playing one of their best defensive efforts of the season, Mary defeated Minnesota Duluth 65-51. Bohl made just one field goal but was 15-of-18 at the free throw line to score 17 points. She also had eight rebounds. Hannah Larson scored 17 points and added 12 rebounds and three assists in the win. Askvig added 11 points off the bench and Dani Wiliams had ten. Sammy Kozlowski led the Bulldogs with 19.

RANKINGS In 28 games this season the University of Mary has faced six ranked opponents. The Marauders 69-56 home win over Northern State was 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), #24 MSU Moorhead (L 73-53) and at #22 Winona State (L 65-47). (All rankings at time of game).

RANKINGS II The Marauders have played four games against teams currently ranked in the top 25 of the current WBCA poll or are receiving votes (#7 Pittsburg State, #4 Cal Baptist, #12 MSU Moorhead twice). Additionally Winona State is receiving votes.

HISTORY LESSON
Marauders vs. Golden Eagles
The Marauders are 15-6 against the Golden Eagles since Mary joined the Northern Sun in the 2006-07 season
Mary is 7-4 at home and 8-2 on the road vs. UMC
The Golden Eagles have won five straight games after sweeping the season series the last two years and winning at Mary earlier this season
LAST MEETING The Marauders held a 66-58 lead with six minutes remaining but couldn't hold off the visiting Golden Eagles in an 80-71 loss. Mary had used a 33-14 run to overcome a double digit deficit before UMC closed out the game on a 22-5 run. Hannah Larson had a career-high 16 rebounds and added 19 points and five assists. Gabbie Bohl added 19 points, Lauren Rotunda 11 and Dani Williams 10. Allison Hughes led UMC with 20 points, Michaela Noga added 16 and eight assists and Isieoma Odor had 13 points.

Marauders vs. Beavers
The Beavers and Marauders began their all-time series Nov. 30, 1984, an 80-75 win by BSU, before taking a 22-year break between meetings
Mary leads the series record, 17-4, and have won four straight against BSU.
A mary win on Saturday would give the Marauders a sweep for two straight years. The Marauders swept last year's series with a 71-66 home win and a 75-67 road victory
LAST MEETING Gabbie Bohl scored 23 points and Mary outscored Bemidji State 44-22 in the paint to offset the Beavers 11-3 edge on 3-pointers. Hannah Larson added 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five blocks. Rachel Weir and Lauren Rotunda both had 10 points. Tatem Sheley led BSU with 25 points.  

REJECTION
The Marauders have blocked the most shots this season in NCAA Division II with 157. In blocks per game, the Marauders are first in the Northern Sun with 5.7, the 7th best total in the country.

BLOCK CITY
Hannah Larson is averaging 2.5 blocks per game to lead the NSIC and is 15th in the country. The senior forward is 9th in the country in total blocks (72).

CHARITY STRIPE
Mary has went to the free throw line 112 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 20 of 28 games. Despite the advantage in total attempts the Marauders have only made 63 more free throws than the opposition.   

RISE AND SHINE: The Marauders are outscoring its opponents 440-414 in the first quarter of games. Mary is outscoring its opponents in the 1st quarter and overtime (13-7).