THIS WEEK
Postseason play tips off midweek as the University of Mary women's basketball team begins pursuit of the Northern Sun / Sanford Health tournament championship at the University of Sioux Falls on Wednesday, April 21. Game time between the Marauders and the Cougars is 6 pm from the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
 
ROAD AHEAD
The winner of the Marauders-Cougars contest advances to the NSIC/Sanford tournament quarterfinals on Sunday, February 25, at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD, against the winner of the MSU Moorhead / Southwest Minnesota State game. The semifinals are Monday, February 26, with the championship game set for Tuesday, February 27.
 
THE RECORD
The Marauders are 13-15 overall and 9-13 in the NSIC (6th NSIC North, 11th overall).
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders split a pair of home games to close out the 2017-18 regular season… Dani Williams cracked 1,000 career points on the opening possession of the game and Cassie Askvig posted 20 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in the Marauders 76-51 win over visiting Bemidji State University. A 3-pointer by Williams to start the game provided the Marauder a lead they never relinquished. UMary at one point led by 70-31. Lauren Rotunda made all three of her 3-point attempts on her way to 16 points and had four assists. Gabbie Bohl chipped in 15 points. Williams scored eight points while becoming the 17^th UMary player to score at least 1,000 points. Brooklyn Bachmann led BSU with 15 points and nine boards… Cassie Askvig posted her tenth double double of the season but a late Marauders rally left the Marauders short in a 72-67 loss to the University of Minnesota Crookston Trailing by as many at 17 points, the Marauders closed within five in the final minute of play. Askvig had 23 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Gabbie Bohl added 14 points and five rebounds. Lauren Rotunda produced 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals while making 6-of-8 shots. Macy Williams also had 13 points as the freshman hit three treys. She had six assists and made 5-of-8 shots before fouling out. Isieoma Odor led all players with 25 points and 14 rebounds for UMC. Abby Guidinger posted 19 points off the bench and Caitlin Michaelis added 14, hitting 3-of-4 trey attempts.
 
FAST BREAK

• The Marauders honored four seniors on Saturday: Dani Williams, Anna Schmelzer, Sawyer Kluge and Hanna Saliba
• Anna Schmelzer was also honored over the weekend as an NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award recipient
• UMary's win against Bemidji State on Friday was the tenth of the season at the McDowell Activity Center. The Marauders went 10-3 at the MAC, the most home wins since finishing 10-3 in 2013-14.
• The Marauders have won seven of their last 12 games
• Since defeating upcoming tournament foe Sioux Falls on the road Feb. 2 the Marauders gave lost three straight road games
• UMary finished 5-3 against NSIC South teams this season after going 2-6 last year
• UMary has played games against four nationally-ranked teams this season: home and away against #19 and #16 Northern State, neutral site game against #11 Central Missouri and at #23 Augustana (rankings at time of game)
• Soph. F Gabbie Bohl became the 25th University of Mary player to crack 900 career points. She currently has 957 points in 58 games and ranks 20th all-time after passing Rhonda Leinius (944) and Jennifer Lunde (950) last weekend. Next up is Kayla Rogers with 974 points.
• Soph. F Cassie Askvig cracked 600 career points, sitting at 641 in 58 games
• Soph. G Lauren Rotunda owns 559 career points in 58 games
• The Marauders have allowed 69 or fewer points in 18 of 28 games, including 11-of-14 home games

 
1,000!
Dani Williams became just the 17^th UMary women's basketball player to reach 1,000 career points, surpassing quadruple digits on the first shot of the game against Bemidji State on Friday night. Williams knocked down a signature 3-point shot from the right wing to crack 1,000. Entering the NSIC conference tournament Williams has 1,011 points in 118 games.
 
OPPO RESEARCH – UNIVERSITY OF SIOUX FALLS COUGARS
Sioux Falls is 14-12 overall and finished 11-11 in the NSIC (3rd NSIC South, 7th overall)… Including a 76-71 home loss to UMary, USF went 1-5 the last three weekend and has lost three straight… lone win during that stretch was a victory over nationally-ranked and NSIC tri-champion Augustana… 7-6 at home, 7-5 on the road and 0-1 in neutral site games… So. G Kaely Hummel leads the Cougars in scoring at 15.9 ppg… Jr. F Jacey Huinker is second in the NSIC in rebounding at 9.9 rpg. She also averages 6.5 ppg and a team-high 3.2 apg… Moita Duffy averages 2.8 blocks/game… Teams are shooting just 38.1 percent against USF… Head Coach Travis Traphagen is in his tenth season at USF and has a career record of 192-102. He led the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament berth in 2016.
 
HISTORY LESSON Mary leads the NCAA Division II series with the Cougars 4-2… Marauders are 2-1 at home and 2-1 at USF… After UMary won three first three meetings, USF captured the next two games… Of the six contests, only one has been decided by more than five points
 
LAST MEETING Gabbie Bohl had 18 points and ten rebounds and the Marauders converted 28-of-31 free throw attempts in a 76-71 win at Sioux Falls. Lauren Rotunda provided the Marauders a 55-54 lead on a 3-point play with four minutes remaining and maintained the lead the rest of the night, scoring on every subsequent possession but one. Cassie Askvig had 18 points and seven rebounds. Rotunda chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Macy Williams and Dani Williams both had ten points. Dani Williams made all six of her free throw attempts and added three assists. Kaely Hummel led USF with 19 points and Mariah Szymanski had 17. Jacey Huinker grabbed 14 rebounds.
 
NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• Overall record of 4-7 in NSIC tournament (4-3 opening round / 0-4 in the second round)
• Overall Mary is 4-3 in the opening round (4-1 at home / 0-2 on the road)
• UMary is 4-1 at home in the opening round (W 80-78 v BSU 2008, W 76-67 v WSU in 2012, W 84-62 v UIU in 2013, W 72-66 v WSU in 2014, L 64-59 to WSU in 2017)
• 0-2 in the opening round on the road (loss at WSU 67-62 in 2015, loss at Wayne State College in 2016)
• Advanced to NSIC second round four times (L 70-58 to WSC in 2008 semifinals, L 78-67 to Augie in 2012, L 74-59 to Augie (home game) in 2013, Loss to Minnesota State 95-71 in 2014)

 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Gabbie Bohl (18.1 ppg) and Cassie Askvig (14.0 ppg) combine to average 32.3 ppg, tops among any pair of teammates in the NSIC. Next is Northern State's combo of Miranda Ristau (19.2 ppg) and Jill Conrad (12.1 ppg) at 31.3 ppg.
 
LINE PLAY
After struggling much of the year at the free throw line, the Marauders greatly improved the last 12 games, sinking 77 percent (181-of-236). For the year UMary is making 70 percent, 13^th best in the NSIC. If ranked just on the last 12 games the Marauders would be 5^th in the conference.
 
DEEEE-FENSE
The Marauders allow 63.1 points/game, 8th in the NSIC. Teams make just 38.7 percent of their shots against UMary, 7th best in the NSIC.
 
DEEEE-FENSE V2
The 38 points the Marauders surrendered to Upper Iowa was the fewest allowed by UMary in an NSIC game since joining the conference in 2006-07. The previous low was 42 at Minnesota Crookston on February 16, 2007, a 62-42 UMary win.
 
PICKPOCKET
UMary averages 6.04 steals/game. Lauren Rotunda is the leader in thievery with 1.5 steals/game, 8th in the league.
 
REJECTION
The Marauders are 3rd in the NSIC in blocked shots at 4.5/game. Gabbie Bohl is 9th in the NSIC at 1.4 bpg. Cassie Askvig is close behind in 12th with 1.3 bpg.
 
DOWNTOWN
Averaging 6.6 treys/game, the Marauders are 7th in the NSIC. Sr. G Dani Williams leads UMary with 1.9 made treys/game, 6th in the NSIC.
 
MAC ATTACK
The Marauders are 10-3 at home this season at the McDowell Activity Center, the most wins at the MAC since 2013-14.
 
FOUR SCORE
Four Marauders nearly average double digits in points. Gabbie Bohl (17.9 ppg) leads the way, followed by Cassie Askvig (14.6 ppg) and Lauren Rotunda (10.3 ppg). Dani Williams is at 8.0 ppg. Fr. G Macy Williams is closing in at 7.3 ppg.
 
YOUNG
Dani Williams may almost feel out of place in the Marauders starting lineup as the senior guard is the only upperclassmen among the five starters. She is joined by sophomores Gabbie Bohl, Lauren Rotunda and Cassie Askvig and freshman Macy Williams.
 
POWER PLAY
The 2017 NSIC Freshman of the Year and an all-conference second team selection, sophomore post Gabbie Bohl is a dominant force in the middle for the Marauders. The Minot, ND, native is third in the NSIC in scoring (17.9 points per game), 3rd in field goal percentage (.506), 11th in rebounding (7.1 rpg) and 9th in blocks (1.4/game)… She just missed her career scoring mark by a point when she posted 30 points at #23 Augustana, making 14-of-17 free throws in the game. Bohl had 21 points the day before at Wayne State… She has scored in double figures in 26 of the 27 games she has played this season… Bohl has five double doubles (24 and 13 vs. Dickinson State / 14 and 10 vs. Minnesota Duluth / 18 and 10 at USF / 17 and 10 at SMSU / 25 and 14 at SCSU) and missed two others by a single rebound.
 
THREE FOR THREE
While her uniform number may be coincidental, senior guard Dani Williams is the Marauders leading 3-point shooter. Williams is shooting 39.4 percent from behind the arc and has knocked down 50 treys this season. Williams is 6th in the NSIC in 3-pointers per game at 1.9 and is 4th in 3-point field goal percentage among players with at least 30 makes.
 
GROWTH
In her first season as a starter, Cassie Askvig is having a tremendous season. The sophomore forward leads the team in rebounds with 8.9 /game (5th in the NSIC). She is second on the squad in blocks (1.2 bpg), scoring (14.6 ppg, 6th in the NSIC), and assists (2.6/game) and third in 3-pointers (34). She is shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and 32.1 percent behind the arc while making 82.1 percent of her free throws. Askvig scored a career-high 25 points against MSU Moorhead and Minnesota Duluth. She also had career-highs with 18 rebounds and five blocks against the Bulldogs… Askvig was named the NSIC Player of the Week January 2 after averaging 20.5 points, 15.0 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 2.0 rebounds in a weekend split over Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State… She has ten double doubles this season.
 
SOUND ALL-AROUND
A member of the NSIC All-Freshman team last spring, sophomore Lauren Rotunda has taken another step forward this season. The Fargo, ND, native averages 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting .399 from the floor and .800 at the free throw line. Rotunda five double doubles this season, including one against Northern State.
 
LISTEN LIVE
University of Mary fans can listen to all Marauders conference games live on Fox Sports 710 as Rick Anthony, the Voice of the Marauders, brings you all the game action. You can also listen live online at www.foxsports710.com. Click the "Listen Live" link to stream the game in real time.
 
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