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THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK BASKETBALL... Upper Iowa will return home to Fayette this weekend for the first time since Jan. 3 and the first time with students on campus since Dec. 5. UIU will take on the Wayne State College Wildcats on Friday at 6 p.m. and the Augustana University Vikings on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Peacocks are celebrating Neon Night on Friday and 90's Night on Saturday.
UPPER IOWA'S LEADERS... Seniors
Aleesha Cleaver and
Whitney Kieffer lead the team in scoring with 13.5 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, while juniors
Carly Pagel and
Sam Ofstad are adding 9.4 and 7.4 points each contest. On the glass, Kieffer (5.6) and Pagel (5.0) are combining for 10.6 rebounds per game and Cleaver (4.4) and freshman
Karlee Grabau (4.1) are grabbing another 8.5 together.
LAST WEEKEND IN PEACOCK HOOPS… UIU is coming off of a pair of road losses last weekend in Minot and Bismarck, North Dakota to the Minot State University Beavers and the University of Mary Marauders. On Friday night, the Peacocks were down by nine points entering the fourth quarter at Minot State, but UIU rallied to take a one-point lead with just over a minute to play in regulation. A Beaver free-throw forced the first overtime period and a
Whitney Kieffer layup with one second on the clock forced a second overtime. In the second overtime, MiSU was able to take the lead and hold on for a 71-69 win.
Aleesha Cleaver poured in 21 points for the Peacocks, while
Sam Ofstad netted 15 and Kieffer added 13. On Saturday, U-Mary got off on the right foot taking a 22-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Despite UIU outscoring the Marauders, 26-25 in the second half, the Peacocks couldn't recover and fell, 63-50.
Carly Pagel led Upper Iowa in the comeback effort with 17 points.
WILDCATS MAKE IT SIX STRAIGHT… Last weekend, Wayne State extended their win streak to six straight with NSIC home wins over the University of Minnesota Duluth, 68-52, and St. Cloud State University, 87-77. Sophomore Paige Ballinger averaged 24.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game scoring a team-high 17 points against the Bulldogs and 32 points, 20 of which came in the second half, against the Huskies. The plus-30 point total was her second of the season and fueled WSC's comeback. Maggie Schulte added 21 points (all in the second half) in Saturday's game. With the two wins last weekend, Wayne State head coach Chris Kielsmeier became the all-time wins leader at WSC with 183-52 record, passing previous leader Ryun Williams (182-106) from 1998-2008.
VIKING SEASON SAILING ALONG… The Vikings are currently second in the NSIC South standings just two games behind Winona State University. Augustana has earned wins in six of their last eight games. Last weekend, Augie split a pair of home games with a loss to St. Cloud State on Friday, 81-71, and a win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, 79-60. Logan O'Farrell averaged 18 points per game over the weekend and she added to her NSIC-best steals per game average with 4 steals. Shelby Selland set a new career-high in points with 16 against the Bulldogs. The Vikings are currently 4-2 away from home this season.
IT'S A SLAM DUNK, DON'T DRIVE DRUNK… The NSIC is proud to present the fourth annual "It's A Slam Dunk, Don't Drive Drunk" campaign. Started in 2013, the campaign commemorates Drake Bigler, the five month old son of Southwest Minnesota State University Men's Basketball Coach Brad Bigler. Drake was killed by a drunk driver. This weekend, the UIU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members will be collecting signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. Pledge stickers, pens, tattoos and bag tags will be handed out to fans that pledge to join in this initiative. Over the past three years, NSIC SAAC members have collected over 30,000 signatures from fans pledging not to drive drunk. The NSIC encourages fans to support this effort and to always drive responsibly.
