THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S HOOPS… Upper Iowa is set to host Northern State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead in the first weekend of competition of the new year. The Peacocks will face the Wolves on Fri. Jan 4 at 5:30 p.m. before welcoming the Dragons on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
LIVE OPTIONS… Fans who can't make it to the game have several options to follow the action from home or on the go. Upper Iowa will provide a webcast and live stats, which fans can access through the links above or UIUPeacocks.com/Live. The game can be broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.3 or streamed live on the NSIC Channel on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and Android TV's.
BREAKING THE STREAK… The Peacocks are looking to capture their first Northern Sun victory since Feb. 11, 2017. Upper Iowa has struggled to keep conference games within reach this season as the Peacocks have fallen by an average 28.4 points to NSIC opponents in six games. UIU's closest loss in the conference this season came against Wayne State College, 68-60, after the team had erased a double-digit gap to pull within four points with 30 seconds to play.
CONVERTING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS… Upper Iowa's turnover margin (-7.7) in conference games ranks at the bottom of the conference. The Peacocks are averaging 20.7 turnovers per Northern Sun game and have allowed NSIC opponents to score an average 23.6 points off turnovers per game.
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS... The Peacocks have struggled on the boards falling by a margin of 12 rebounds per game in the NSIC. UIU is pulling down 29.5 rebounds per contest led by
Haley Martin (5.9) and
Savannah Domeyer (5.4). NSIC opponents are averaging 15.1 offensive rebounds against the Peacocks, which has turned into 14.2 second chance points per game.
SEASON STAT LEADERS… Team leader in italics
- Natalie Dinius – 10.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 6 steals, 34.7% 3FG
- Savannah Domeyer – 9.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 21 blocks, 8 steals, 50.6% FG
- Bekka Pierson – 8.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 8 blocks, 2 steal, 46.2% FG
- Emma Gaber – 7.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 9 steals, 29.6% 3FG
- Haley Martin – 4.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5 blocks, 7 steals, 35.5% FG
- Casey Miles – 4.6 ppg, 2.2 apg, 10 steals, 41.2% FG
- Ally Fink - 3.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 7 blocks, 46.3% FG
- Marina Peinado - 2.0 ppg, 2.5 apg, 15 steals
SCOUTING THE WOLVES… Northern State (5-7, 2-4 NSIC) won its most recent contest 52-41 against Metro State University to even its non-conference record to 3-3 on the year. Brianna Kusler leads the team in scoring (13.9), assists (2.7), rebounding (9.8) and steals (0.9). Kusler has five double-doubles this season. Lexi Wadsworth (11.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Sara Tvedt (9.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg) have also been key players for the Wolves this season. NSU averages 61.1 points per contest on 41.5 percent shooting. The Wolves outrebound their opponents by 8.7 boards on average.
SCOUTING THE DRAGONS… MSU Moorhead (10-2, 6-0 NSIC) topped Northern State 60-51 on Dec. 19 to extend its winning streak to eight games before closing out the 2018 portion of the schedule. Sophomore guard Kiley Borowicz averages 14.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest to lead the Dragons. Defensively, Borowicz also leads the team with 23 steals. Megan Hintz (12.6 ppg, 10.4 rpg) and Jacky Volkert (11.4 ppg, 4.0 apg) also average double-digit scoring and lead the team in rebounds and assists, respectively. Hintz's rebounding average leads the Northern Sun conference while Vokert's assist average ranks 2nd. MSUM scores 65.8 points per game while shooting 41.8 percent from the field, and has one of the best defenses in the league allowing 54.8 points per contest. The Dragons have outrebounded opponents by an average 10.4 boards.
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will hit the road for another pair of NSIC games against Augustana University (Jan. 11, 5:30 p.m.) and Wayne State College (Jan. 12, 3:30 p.m.).
