PLAYOFF WEDNESDAY
The 2020 postseason for the University of Mary women's basketball team tips off midweek when the Marauders host Southwest Minnesota State University in the opening round of the Northern Sun / Sanford Health Basketball tournament on Wednesday, February 26.  Game time is at 6 pm between the Marauders and the Mustangs at the McDowell Activity Center.
 
LOOKING AHEAD – NSIC / SANFORD HEALTH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
The winner of the UMary-SMSU game advances to the quarterfinals of the NSIC / Sanford Health Basketball Tournament on Sunday, March. 1, to face the winner of the Minnesota Crookston at Minnesota State game. Tip off is 2:30 pm at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD… The semifinals are 5:30 PM and 8 pm on Monday, March 2, with the NSIC Championship at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 3. 
 
AT STAKE
The winner of the NSIC / Sanford Health Basketball tournament earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Central Region tournament.
 
PIZZA PARTY / STUDENT ADMISSION
Attention all students: The first 200 students in attendance at the game will get free pizza and free admission to the game! Get their early to claim your pizza and tickets and cheer on your Marauders.
 
BLUE WAVE
A blue wave is coming to Bismarck. Be sure to WEAR BLUE to cheer on your Marauders as they host SMSU at 6 PM in the McDowell Activity Center.
 
TICKETS
Tickets for the UMary-SMSU game are available for purchase at the Marauders athletic office in the University of Mary Fieldhouse from 9 am to 4 pm on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 24-25, and on Wednesday, Feb. 26 from 9 am to 1 pm. Tickets will also be sold prior to the game on Wednesday when gates open at 5 pm, an hour before game time.
 
Ticket prices, as set by the NSIC, are $10 for adults and $2 for students.
 
The first 200 UMary students will be admitted to the game free with their M-card, courtesy of the UMary Student Government.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Marauders took the court was for a pair of big wins to close out regular season play. The Marauders began the weekend by downing Northern State 67-54. Cassie Asvkig led the way for UMary with 19 points. The Marauders followed that up by winning a nail biter against MSU Moorhead 69-67. Lauren Rotunda dropped a massive double double with 27 points and 14 rebounds. Cassie Askvig added 19 points and seven rebounds.

THE RECORD
The Marauders come into the weekend with a 21-10 record, starting the season 15-7 in NSIC play.
 
OPPO RESEARCH – SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
Southwest Minnesota State comes into the first round of the Northern Sun playoffs with a 16-11 record, going 11-11 in Northern Sun play. The sixth seeded Mustangs have won six of their last seven games, clinching their first winning season since 2009-10. SMSU has three athletes averaging double digit points. Meleah Reinhart leads the team with 14.6 PPG followed by Jenna Borchers (13.4) and Sadie Stelter (11.1). The Mustangs lead the conference in three pointers made per game with 8.6 and in free thorw percentage, shooting 78.9 percent from the charity stripe as a team. Abuk Akoi leads the NSIC in rebounding (8.3/game) and blocked shots (2.1/game).

LAST MATCHUP
The Mustangs claimed an 91-85 overtime victory the last time the Marauders and SMSU met up. The Marauders were led by a historic performance by Cassie Askvig who dropped an NSIC and University of Mary record with 45 points. She made it a double double by adding 10 rebounds. Lauren Rotunda added a ten point, ten rebound double double with Macy Williams pitching in 10 points.

HISTORY LESSON
UMary has won six of the last nine meetings with SMSU dating back to the 2011-12 season… Four of the last six games have gone to overtime, including a double-overtime game in UMary's visit to SMSU in 2016… UMary leads the all-time series 11-6.
 
 
ALL TIME WINS RECORD
The University of Mary women's basketball has broken the single season wins record, posting 21 wins this season. The previous record was 19 set in both 2011-12 and 2012-13.
  
GETTING BUCKETS
UMary is fourth in the Northern Sun in points per game averaging 74.4. The Marauders have a plus 8.8 points scoring margin over the opponents which is fourth in the Northern Sun. Cassie Askvig leads the conference in scoring, averaging 21 PPG. Lauren Rotunda ranks 12^th at 13.6 PPG. The Marauders lead the conference in field goal percentage (46). Askvig ranks fourth in the conference with a field goal percentage of 49.9 percent.
 
A HELPING PASS
The Marauders sure know how to share the ball. The team ranks second in the conference in assists, averaging 16.23 assists per game. Macy Williams is fourth in the conference averaging 3.9 assists per game. Williams leads in the conference in assists / turnover ratio. Gillette is 20^th in the NSIC (2.8/game) and Rotunda is 21^st (2.7/game).
 
DEEEE-FENSE
The Marauders allow just 65.5 points/game, seventh lowest in the NSIC. Teams are making 41 percent of their shots against UMary, ranking them 12^th in the conference in field goal percentage defense.
 
THIEVERY
UMary averages 7.23 steals per game this season, ranking them eighth in the Northern Sun. Lauren Rotunda leads the team with 1.3 steals per game, ranking her 23^rd in the conference.

DOWNTOWN
Averaging 7.3 treys/game, the Marauders rank fourth in the NSIC. Shooting 35.1 percent from behind the arc, UMary is fourth in the conference in three point shooting percentage. Coral Gillette is third in the conference averaging 2.5 three pointers per game.
 
CHARITY STRIPE
Shooting 76.1 percent from the free throw line as a team this season the Marauders rank fifth in the NSIC. Lauren Rotunda ranks second in the NSIC, knocking down 90.7 percent of her free throws. In 12^th is Cassie Askvig, making 79.5 percent of her shots from the charity stripe.
 
CRASHING THE GLASS
The Marauders rank fifth in the NSIC in rebounding defense and sixth in rebounding margin, outrebounding opponents by 2.9 RPG on average. Rotunda is tied for seventh in the NSIC with 7.5 RPG. Askvig sits in ninth with seven rebounds per game.
 
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, Macy Williams, and Lauren Rotunda 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 is second in the nation in field goals made, is 10^th in free throws made, and in 13^th in points per game
Lauren Rotunda is eighth in the nation in free throw percentage
Macy Williams ranks 30^th in total assists and 30^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 three times. 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. She earned the honor for the third time for her 20.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG weekend with wins coming against UIU and WSU.
Cassie Askvig has earned the honor twice. She earned hers after averaging 34 PPG and 5.5 RPG. Her most recent award was after she posted 23.5 PPG and six RPG in two UMary wins.

CLIMBING THE MARAUDERS ALL TIME RANKINGS
Cassie Askvig currently has 1,736 career points and 833 career rebounds. She ranks fifth all-time in points and fifth all-time in rebounds. She also sits sixth all-time in career blocks with 72.
Lauren Rotunda currently has 1,001 career points, 558 rebounds, 258 assists and 118 steals. She ranks 20^th in career points, 14^th in rebounds, 15^th in assists, and fourth in steals
Macy Williams climbs to 13^th all-time in career assists with 283.
 
1000 POINT CLUB
Knocking down a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the Marauders game against MSUM allows Lauren Rotunda to surpass the 1,000-point mark. She becomes just the 20^th Marauder to reach this mark. Teammate Cassie Askvig is the only other current Marauder to have reached this mark, she sits just shy of 1,750 career points.
 
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 PPG and 7 RPG throughout this season.
 
 
PACK THE MAC
The Marauders thrive off of a big crowd, boasting a 12-3 record on the home court 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 Todd Domres and Scott Woodmansee, 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. 
 
LIVE ON BEK
The Marauders-Mustangs matchup will be broadcasted live on BEK TV.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
To find links to live stats, audio and video, go to www.goumary.com/coverage
 
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