THIS WEEK
The University of Mary women's basketball team will travel to Crookston, MN, to take on University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday and Saturday, January 29-30. Game time is 5:30 pm on Friday with Saturday's tip-off set for 1:30 pm. The Marauders enter this series with a record of 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. UMC is 2-6 and 2-4 in the NSIC.

LAST TIME OUT
UMary were defeated in two close games to Bemidji State. The Marauders lost both games by five points as on Friday they fell 66-61 and on Saturday the score was 58-53.

Senior guard Lauren Rotunda averaged 19 points and eight rebounds over the weekend series against the Beavers. Senior guard Macy Williams averaged 12.5 points and five assists. Freshmen Zoe Velde and Hallie Schweitzer both had career highs in scoring as Velde had five and Schweitzer earned seven.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY HOME GAME ATTENDANCE POLICY
University of Mary home games are currently closed to the general public and no tickets will be sold. A limited number of family passes will be distributed to both the home and away teams. Additionally, a number of UMary students and faculty & staff will receive tickets through a lottery.

HOW TO FOLLOW YOUR MARAUDERS LIVE ONLINE
Links to live streaming video, game stats and radio streams are available at www.GoUMary.com/coverage … Fox Sports 710 AM radio broadcasts of home games are available online at https://foxsports710.iheart.com/

MARAUDERS HOME BASKETBALL GAMES AIRING LIVE ON FOX SPORTS 710
All home University of Mary men's and women's basketball games will air live on Fox Sports 710 AM. Voice of the Marauders Jesse Rostvedt will call all the action this season from the McDowell Activity Center.

NSIC, UMARY BASKETBALL COVID-19 PANDEMIC CHANGES
In order to compete safely this season during the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Mary, the NCAA and the Northern Sun have created several new policies. Here are just a few changes implemented for the 2020-21 men's and women's basketball season….

• The 2020-21 season for Northern Sun members started Jan. 2
• NSIC teams will play 16 games, all against conference competition (teams normally play 26 regular-season games that includes a 22-game NSIC schedule)
• All teams will play two games against a single conference opponent each weekend (usually play two different teams each weekend)
• All NSIC schools host home games for eight straight weeks as either the men's or women's team will play at home with the other team on the road (no men's and women's doubleheaders)
• The NSIC will only declare North and South Division champions and not an overall champion for 2021
• Eight teams will advance to the NSIC tournament (all teams previously made the tournament with first-round games at home sites)
• Marauders home games are currently closed to the general public
• Only home Marauders basketball games will air on Fox Sports 710 (follow road Marauders basketball games live video streams at www.GoUMary.com/coverage)
• Game programs are only available online and will not be printed
• Winter scholar-athletes will maintain their year of eligibility independent of whether they compete or not

RECORDS
UMary is 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the NSIC this season… Minnesota Crookston is 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the NSIC.

HISTORY OF THE UMARY-UMC MATCHUP
The Marauders are 20-8 against the Golden Eagles since UMary joined the Northern Sun in the 2006-07 season… UMary is 9-5 at home and 11-3 on the road vs. UMC… The Marauders swept the series the last two years.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

Lauren Rotunda is 9^th in the NSIC in scoring (15.3 ppg), 4^th in rebounding (7.8 rpg) and 16^th in steals (.1.5 spg)… Macy Williams is second in the NSIC in assists (4.7 apg) and 3^rd in assist/turnover ratio... Megan Voit ranks 13^th in the NSIC in three-point field goals per game (1.8 per game)… Both Rotunda and Williams are in the top ten of minutes played, with Rotunda being 6^th (34.5 mpg) and Williams at 7^th (33.3 mpg).
 
OPPO RESEARCH – UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
The University of Minnesota Crookston went 5-22 overall and 4-18 in the conference last season, finishing seventh in the NSIC North. Head coach Mike Roysland has gone 123-264 over his 13-year career at UMC. The Golden Eagles have four scorers who are averaging over double digits points a game.

Freshman guard Jes Mertens leads the team averaging 11.5 points a game. Junior guard Kylie Post averages 10.3 points a game while grabbing 4.5 rebounds. Sophomore Nicole Meier and junior Bren Fox both average 10 points per game. 

 RECORDS TO LOOK OUT FOR

• Lauren Rotunda is looking to move up in several record categories for UMary. She ranks 17^th all-time in scoring (1,122 points), 7^th in blocks (59), 3^rd in steals (132), 13^th in assists (278) and 12^th in rebounding (624). Rotunda is approaching Nicole Meier (1,129) in points and could pass Meier this weekend. Rotunda passed Shaunna Knife (1,092) last weekend.
• Macy Williams ranks 38^th in scoring (770 points) and 11^th in assists (322) all-time in Marauders history. Williams is approaching Thai Goecke (327) in assists and could move into the top 10 after this series.

ALL HANDS ON DECK
With the NCAA allowing all players to compete this season without losing a year of eligibility, all eligible scholar-athletes are available to play this season with no need to redshirt.

BORDER PATROL
The Marauders feature eight North Dakotans on the 2020-21 team, including four from Bismarck-Mandan. Laykn Darras (Mandan HS), Coral Gillette (Bismarck HS), Cadee Ryckman (Bismarck HS) and Hallie Schweitzer (Bismarck St. Mary's HS) all grew up in the shadow of UMary. Others from the Roughrider state are Raquel Doll (Hazen), Carly Kottsick (Fargo Davies HS), Emma Passa (Velva) and Lauren Rotunda (Fargo Shanley HS).

HALL OF FAME CONNECTIONS
A pair of Marauders have fathers in the Marauders Hall of Fame. Coral Gillette's father Rusty was inducted into the Hall of Fame after scoring 1,167 points in his Marauders basketball career. Hallie Schweitzer's father Toby was a two-time All-American and the Marauders football all-time leader in tackles.

ROSTER RUNDOWN
Head coach Rick Neumann returns 10 players from last year's 22-win team, including five players who started ten or more games and five of six of the squad's leading scorers. An experienced crew features three seniors and five juniors.
 
Returning to the Marauders will be senior guard Lauren Rotunda who averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds a game last season. Rotunda was named the Marauders NSIC Player to Watch for women's basketball after earning 1^st team All-Northern Sun honors last year. Senior guard Macy Williams will be returning after leading the team in assists last season (4.0). The four-year starter added 8.3 points/game. Senior guard Coral Gillette led the team in total three-pointers, hitting 84 of them while shooting 36%. She averaged 9.3 points/game and led the NSIC in assist-to-turnover ratio. Junior forward Lexie Schneider will look to improve upon her sophomore season where she averaged 9.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Megan Voit started 10 games last season and was second on the team with 45 treys. Junior guards Raquel Doll and Carly Kottsick also saw significant floor time for UMary. Anna Michaud and Reese Wishart both played key minutes in the frontcourt. Mady Schafer saw limited play at guard.
 
The Marauders roster also features several newcomers. Junior guard Claire Borot transferred to UMary from Miles Community College. At Miles CC she averaged 12.7 points per game her sophomore year while shooting 36% from the field. Freshman forward Ella Grove averaged 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game her senior year at Alexandria (MN) Area High School. Grove earned All-State and All-Conference honors at Alexandria. Also joining UMary this season is sophomore guard Klara Dolk, a transfer from West Texas A&M, and freshmen Laykn Darras (F, Mandan HS), Emma Passa (F, Velva (ND) HS), Cadee Ryckman (G, Bismarck HS), Hallie Schweitzer (C, Bismarck St. Mary's HS) and Zoe Velde (G, Pipestone (MN) HS).

NEW COACHES
UMary has brought in two new assistant coaches Brooke LeMar and Chloe Wanink. LeMar was a two-time all-conference after spending her collegiate career at NCAA Division I North Dakota State University. She then went on to play professionally in several countries including Denmark, Germany, Australia and Sweden. LeMar worked as the Director of Player Development at the California Baptist University.
 
Wanink was a four-year all-conference performer at NCAA Division I Wofford University. She was a three-year captain at Wofford and led the Southern Conference in scoring her junior season averaging 21 points per game. She was named the 2019-20 SoCon Preseason Player of the Year and was named to the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard watchlist.

129
Rick Neumann is fourth all-time in coaching wins at UMary with 129. In his ninth season, he has a record of 129-114. Hall of Fame coach Roger Haug is the Marauders all-time leader in wins (234), followed by Fred Fridley (170), Cal Collins (150) and Neumann (129).

MARAUDERS PICKED 4^th IN NSIC NORTH PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
The Marauders are projected to finish fourth in the NSIC North Division according to the NSIC preseason coaches' rankings. The University of Minnesota Duluth is projected to win the NSIC North getting seven first-place votes. St. Cloud State University is projected to finish second followed by MSU Moorhead, University of Mary, Northern State University, Bemidji State University, Minot State University, and the University of Crookston.

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