THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK BASKETBALL... Upper Iowa starts a four-game road swing this weekend in northwest Minnesota and central South Dakota. The Peacocks will compete in a pair of Northern Sun Conference cross-division games on Friday and Saturday. UIU will take on the Dragons of Minnesota State University, Moorhead on Friday at 6 p.m. and then head west to face the #23 Wolves of Northern State University on Saturday at 5 p.m. Northern State comes into the weekend as the lead dog in the NSIC North, while MSU Moorhead is in fifth place in the division. Upper Iowa sits in a tie for sixth in the NSIC South with Winona State.

LAST WEEK FOR THE DRAGONS... Morgan Zabel averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game for the week in helping the Dragon women to a split on the road. Zabel scored a career-high 28 points in MSUM's 75-70 win over Minnesota Duluth. She also added six rebounds, two assists and a steal. A night later, Zabel had 13 points, four rebounds and three assists in a loss at St. Cloud state. For the week, Zabel shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field and 85.7 percent from the free-throw line. Senior forward Megan Strese averaged 18.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game as the Dragon women split on the road. Strese had 21 points and 13 rebounds – her fourth double-double of 2013-14 – in a loss to St. Cloud State.

LAST WEEK FOR THE #23 WOLVES... The Wolves split against the Huskies of St. Cloud State and Bulldogs on Minnesota Duluth. SCSU snapped Northern's nine game win streak Friday night with a 64-61 victory. NSU was able to bounce back in night two with a 70-59 win over UMD on the road. The Wolves who are now 11-3 in the NSIC and 15-3 overall, sit atop the north division standings and second in the league overall. Northern will now return home next weekend as they take on Winona State and Upper Iowa from Wachs Arena. Alison Kusler averaged 24 points for the Wolves on the weekend in their games with St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. Kusler notched a season high seven assists in the win over the Bulldogs.

"WHIT"-STLE WHILE YOU WORK... Junior Whitney Kieffer is averaging 16.3 points (12th NSIC) per game and is now shooting 42.2% (16th NSIC) from the floor and 89.9% (14th NCAA/4th NSIC) from the free throw line. Kieffer also adds 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 steals (9th NSIC) and 1.9 assists per game for the Peacocks. The 5'9" guard continues her climb up the all-time scoring list at UIU with 1,265 points (74 games - 17.1 ppg). Kieffer is now just 166 points shy of the all-time leader in points, Hall of Famer Vicky (Ringeberg) Rarick (1995-99) with 1,431. In second place is Hall of Famer Walida (Hawkins) Hewitt (1993-97) with 1,424.

SENIOR-ITA... The Peacocks' lone senior, Sam Thrapp, is leading the Peacock offense with 4.5 assists per game (3rd NSIC). The Davenport, Iowa product is adding 10.1 points per game while shooting 39.4% (26-66) from behind the three-point line.

"BUCK" UP LITTLE CAMPER... Junior Lauren Buck is averaging 10.4 points per game after a great weekend at home. The forward averaged 14.5 points per game. Buck also leads the team on the boards with 6.9 rebounds per game.