THIS WEEKEND 
The University of Mary Women's Basketball team (11-6, 10-4 NSIC) hit the road in hopes to continue their winning streak after a great performance at home last weekend. The Marauders take on #12 Minnesota State University (15-3, 11-3 NSIC) Friday night at 7:30, and Concordia-St. Paul (8-10, 5-9 NSIC) Saturday at 5:30 pm.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders closed out a weekend sweep in their matchups on January 20th and 21st. UMary came out on top 80-56 over Upper Iowa University (6-12, 2-11 NSIC). Ryleigh Wacha led the team scoring a career-high of 23 points, with Moriku Hakim adding 14 points. The Marauders shot an impressive 94.7% from the free-throw line, and got the upper edge on the Peacocks in rebounding 38-36.

The Marauders followed up this strong performance with another 75-49 win over Winona State University (9-11, 3-11 NSIC). Addison Rozell led the team with 14 points, Megan Zander a close second with 13, and Ryleigh Wacha with 10. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Megan Zander enters the weekend ranking 6th in the conference with an average of 15.7 points per game. Earlier this month she scored a career-high 25 points in a win over Sioux Falls. Zander averages 5.7 rebounds per game and is tied with teammate Addison Rozell for the most rebounds in a game (10). 

Megan Voit is the second highest scorer for the Marauders and holds the team high for 3-point shots made in a game (5). Voit has the second highest 3-point shooting percentage in the NSIC and averages 2.6 treys per game, also the second highest in the conference.

Ryleigh Wacha scored a career high last weekend with 23 points and was also awarded UMary female athlete of the week. Averaging 9.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds, Wacha has a dominating presence on both ends of the court. 

Carly Kottsick is a senior starter for the Marauders, averaging 3.9 point per game. Kottsick leads the team in assists averaging 2.7 per game as well as steals averaging 1.4 per game.

Moriku Hakim continues to have a commanding presence on the court. Averaging 9.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game, Hakim gets the job done in the paint. 

Addison Rozell is another starter for the Marauders. The sophomore from Redfield, SD averages 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Rozell is a close second to teammate Moriku Hakim in blocks, averaging 0.7 per game.

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN – MAVERICKS
Minnesota State, ranked 12th in the nation, steps into the weekend with a record of 15-3 overall and 11-3 in the Northern Sun. The Mavericks fell last weekend to Northern State 69-72 but came out on top over MSU Moorhead 77-70. 

Minnesota State possesses a high-powered offense, ranking no. 1 in the NSIC with 84.8 points per game as well as the no. 8 ranked defense in the conference (65.0 points per game). Minnesota State is led by Joey Batt, ranked 4th in the conference in scoring with 17.0 points per game. Batt is followed by Destinee Bursch with 14.8 points per game. 

Minnesota State holds a handful of the highest scoring wins in the conference and ranks no. 6 in team field goal percent average (42.1%). 

Minnesota State holds a historical record of 14-4 of UMary. The Marauders lost at home 60-74 in their last matchup on January 22, 2022. Lexie Schneider led the Marauder's efforts putting up 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Ryleigh Wacha posted a double-double for the first time in her collegiate career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN – GOLDEN BEARS 
Concordia-St. Paul enters the weekend with a record of 8-10 overall, 5-9 in the Northern Sun. The Golden Bears came up short in both their games last weekend against Northern State 52-71 and MSU Moorhead 65-73.

Concordia has the no. 12 scoring offense in the NSIC (60.3 points per game) along with the no. 10 ranked defense in the conference (67.5 points per game). CSP's scoring is led by Ally Gietzel with 14.0 points per game. Gietzel also leads the team in rebounds, averaging 7.1 per game and ranking 9th in the NSIC in boards. 

Concordia ranks third in conference for shots blocked, with 59 blocks total and averaging 4.21 per game. 

Concordia has a record of 14-6 over UMary. Marauders lost at home 58-79 in their previous matchup on January 21, 2022. Lexie Schneider led the Marauder's efforts with 14 points. Megan Voit and Ryleigh Wacha were close behind with 12 and 10 points respectively. 

THE STAFF
Rick Neumann enters his tenth season at the helm of UMary Women's Basketball. Through the years, Neumann has enjoyed many successful years as the Marauders fourth-winningest coach in program history with a career record of 158-139. Neumann joined his alma mater as an assistant coach in 2003, taking over the head coaching role in the 2012-2013 season, and has coached numerous All-Conference and All-American players.

Reigning Summit League Player of the Year Chloe Lamb enters her first season as the Marauders assistant coach. Lamb comes to UMary fresh after capping off a historic career at the University of South Dakota where she earned the 2022 Summit League Tournament MVP as the Coyotes won both Summit regular season and tournament titles. She is a four-time All-Summit League selection, earning 1st team honors in her last two seasons at USD.

Phydel Nwanze enters her first season as a Marauders assistant coach and graduate assistant. She played collegiately at St. Edwards University and earned a BA in kinesiology and exercise science.

DIAL INTO 710 AM FOX SPORTS
Listen to "Voice of the Marauders" Jesse Rostvedt call all Marauders Northern Sun games and select conference contests on 710 AM Fox Sports.
 
LIVE STATS AND WEBCASTS
Links to radio broadcasts, web streams, and live stats are found at goumary.com/coverage. 

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