THIS WEEK
The University of Mary women's basketball team closes out a four-game road stretch with a pair of road games this weekend. The Marauders will head south to take on Wayne State College and Augustana University. UMary will take on WSC on Friday, January 31 at 5:30 PM in Wayne, NE. They follow that up with a matchup against Augustana on Saturday, February 1 at 3:30 PM in Sioux Falls, SD.

 
LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders completed the weekend sweep the last time they took the court, taking down UMC and BSU in come from behind victories. UMary beat Minnesota Crookston 77-73 with Cassie Askvig leading the way with 24 points. Lauren Rotunda added 16 and Macy Williams had 12. In the Marauders 76-70 win over Bemidji State, three different players dropped career highs. Lauren Rotunda led the way with 30 points, with Lexie Schneider recording 18 and Megan Voit 12. Lauren Rotunda earned NSIC North Athlete of the week for her 23 PPG, 6 RPG, and 2 APG weekend performance.


 
THE RECORD
The Marauders come into the weekend with a 14-9 record, starting the season 8-6 in NSIC play.

 
OPPO RESEARCH – WAYNE STATE
Wayne State comes into the meeting with the Marauders with a 14-6 record, going 9-5 in Northern Sun play. Winning four of their last five, the Wildcats are led by Erin Norling who averages 19.2 PPG and 8.1 RPG. She is second in the conference in points per game and fifth in rebounds per game. Halley Busse (14.4) and Brittany Bongartz (12.1) both average double figure points for WSC. The Wildcats have the second-best scoring offense in the conference, averaging 77.6 PPG.


LAST MATCHUP
The last time these two teams met was in the first round of the playoffs in 2018-19. The Marauders fell in an absolute heartbreaker to the Wildcats 54-52. UMary led by one with time winding down when WSC hit a game winning three pointer. Macy Williams had 12 points for the Marauders. In the last regular season matchup, UMary won 65-60. Cassie Askvig had a career day with 34 points and 20 rebounds.


HISTORY LESSON
Dating back to 2006 when UMary joined the Northern Sun, the Marauders have lost 16 out of the 22 meetings with the Wildcats… WSC has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Marauders.
 
OPPO RESEARCH – AUGUSTANA
Augustana comes into the weekend with an 11-7 record, going 7-7 in conference play. The Vikings are led by Abby Hora who averages 12.1 PPRG and 4.2 RPG. Lauren Sees pitches in 10.6 PPG. Defense is the name of the game for Augie, they lead the conference in turnover margin while being second in steals and field goal percentage defense.
 
 
LAST MATCHUP
The Marauders claimed a 68-62 win the last time these two teams squared off. UMary used a dominant second quarter, outscoring Augie 17-4 to create separation. Cassie Askvig led the way with a big double double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. Macy Williams added 11 points and seven assists.

HISTORY LESSON
The Marauders are 4-14 against the Vikings… Mary won the first two meetings in the NCAA era but AU has had the Marauders number, winning 13 out of the last 15 meet ups.
 
  
GETTING BUCKETS
UMary is fourth in the Northern Sun in points per game averaging 74.1. The Marauders have a plus 9.2 points scoring margin over the opponents which is fourth in the Northern Sun. Cassie Askvig leads the conference in scoring, averaging 21.5 PPG. Lauren Rotunda ranks 20^th at 12.2 PPG. The Marauders lead the conference in field goal percentage (45.5). Askvig ranks fourth in the conference with a field goal percentage of 50.1 percent.
 
A HELPING PASS
The Marauders sure know how to share the ball. The team ranks first in the conference in assists, averaging 16.17 assists per game. Macy Williams is second in the conference averaging 4.2 assists per game. Williams is second in the conference in assists / turnover ratio. Rotunda is tied for 20^th in the conference in assists per game at 2.7. Right behind her in 23^rd is Coral Gillette with 2.5/game.
 
DEEEE-FENSE
The Marauders allow just 64.9 points/game, seventh lowest in the NSIC. Teams are making 41.4 percent of their shots against UMary, ranking them 14^th in the conference in field goal percentage defense.
 
THIEVERY
UMary averages 7.57 steals per game this season, ranking them eighth in the Northern Sun. Christal Hearn leads the team with 1.5 steals a game, ranking tied for tenth in the conference. Right behind her with 1.3 steals per game is Lauren Rotunda, tying her for 17^th in the Northern Sun.
 
DOWNTOWN
Averaging 6.9 treys/game, the Marauders rank seventh in the NSIC. Shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc, UMary is seventh in the conference in three point shooting percentage. Coral Gillette is fourth in the conference averaging 2.3 three pointers per game.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
Shooting 74.7 percent from the free throw line as a team this season the Marauders rank sixth in the NSIC. Lauren Rotunda ranks fourth in the NSIC, knocking down 89.2 percent of her free throws. In tenth is Cassie Askvig, making 79.7 percent of her shots from the charity stripe.
 
CRASHING THE GLASS
The Marauders rank fourth in the NSIC in rebounding defense and fifth in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by 4.2 RPG on average. Lexie Schneider is seventh in the NSIC in rebounding, pulling down 7.6 boards per game. Askvig and Rotunda join her in the top 15. Rotunda is ninth with 7.3 RPG and Askvig is 12^th with 6.7 RPG.
 
MAKING HISTORY
Cassie Askvig just made history! With her 45 point performance against SMSU, Askvig broke the Marauders single game scoring record. She not only broke UMary's single game scoring record but the Northern Sun single game scoring record. She wasn't done breaking records just yet, she tied the Marauders single game record for free throws made with 17 against the Mustangs.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Cassie Askvig and Macy Williams aren't just at the top of the NSIC statistics rankings but they both have found a place amongst the best in NCAA Division II.
Cassie Askvig leads the nation in field goals made and in tenth in points per game
Macy Williams ranks 17^th in total assists and 26^th nationally in assist to turnover ratio
 
NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Marauders have had two athletes earn NSIC athlete of the week honors.
 Lauren Rotunda has earned the honor twice. She first earned the honor for her 19 point, eight rebound, six assist performance against Minot State during a dominant 81-60 win. Later on, she would repeat as NSIC North Player of the Week for her 23 PPG, 6 RPG, and 2 APG weekend in a pair of wins over UMC and BSU.
Cassie Askvig earned hers after averaging 34 PPG and 5.5 RPG. She also dropped a career high of 36 points over the weekend.

CLIMBING THE MARAUDERS ALL TIME RANKINGS
Cassie Askvig currently has 1,580 career points and 768 career rebounds. She ranks eighth all-time in points and fifth all-time in rebounds. She also sits sixth all-time in career blocks with 68.
Lauren Rotunda moves into fourth all-time in career steals with 113.
Macy Williams climbs to 15^th all-time in career assists with 258.
 
700 WINS CLUB
With the teams win over the Northeastern State Riverhawks the Marauders now have 700 all-time program wins!
  
 
LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS
Coming into the season as defending NSIC player of the year the expectations are high for senior Cassie Askvig and she is living up to those expectations. The Marauders senior is averaging 21.5 PPG and 6.7 RPG throughout this season.
 
 
PACK THE MAC
The Marauders thrive off of a big crowd, boasting a 10-3 record on the home court last season and an 8-3 record so far this year. Come out and pack the MAC and cheer your Marauders onto victory.
 
LISTEN LIVE
University of Mary fans can listen to all Marauders home and conference games live on Fox Sports 710 as Jesse Rostvedt, 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. 
 
FOLLOW LIVE
To find links to live stats, audio and video, go to www.goumary.com/coverage
 
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