THIS WEEK IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S HOOPS… Upper Iowa is headed into the final month of the regular season looking to play upset in games against St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth this weekend. The Huskies sit in fourth place in the NSIC North Division and come into the weekend having lost three of their last four matches. The Bulldogs swept last weekend's slate and have won seven of their last nine games to sit in second place in the division. The Peacocks will hit the hardwood against the Huskies on Friday, Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. and the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 2 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 through the links above or UIUPeacocks.com/Live. Webcast and live stats will be available for both matches. The games can be streamed live on the NSIC Channel through Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and Android TV's.
PLAYING BIG INSIDE… Bekka Pierson notched her seventh double-digit performance of the season on Saturday when she scored a career-high 19 points against Southwest Minnesota State University. Over the last two weekends, Pierson has averaged a team-high 12.3 points on 58.6 percent shooting from the field. The junior also averaged 3.3 rebounds in that span second only to Haley Martin with 6.0 per game. On top of rebounding, Martin also added 7.5 points per game with a 48.1 shooting clip. Ally Fink has stepped up in the absence of Savannah Domeyer who missed the last four games due to illness. In those games, Fink averaged 4.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks. The 6-4 sophomore swatted away a career-high four shots against the University of Sioux Falls on Friday, and now has 17 on the year (13th in NSIC). Erica Armstrong also helped fill some gaps by bringing down five rebounds against USF and six against SMSU, both team-highs.
SEASON STAT LEADERS… Team leader in italics
- Savannah Domeyer – 9.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 31 blocks, 8 steals, 48.7% FG
- Natalie Dinius – 9.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 11 steals, 35.1% 3FG
- Bekka Pierson – 8.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 12 blocks, 47.2% FG
- Emma Gaber – 7.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 10 steals, 30.2% 3FG
- Haley Martin – 5.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 6 blocks, 13 steals, 35.4% FG
- Casey Miles – 4.3 ppg, 2.0 apg, 19 steals
- Ally Fink - 3.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 17 blocks, 45.1% FG
- Laker Ward – 3.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 10 steals, 43.8% 3FG
- Marina Peinado - 2.2 ppg, 2.0 apg, 20 steals
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES… St. Cloud State (11-7, 8-6 NSIC) is coming off a split last weekend where the Huskies topped Northern State University (76-64) but fell to No. 24 Minnesota State University Moorhead (82-75) despite holding a lead for a majority of the game. Tori Wortz averaged 19.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists over the weekend, and notched her sixth consecutive double-digit performance. Wortz has averaged 20.8 points over that span but averages 13.4 on the season. Nikki Kilboten brings down 6.1 rebounds per game while Katrina Theis contributes 5.1. Kilboten also blocks 2.4 shots per game, a league-high. SCSU scores 66.4 points per contest on 40.9 percent shooting while allowing 59.8 points to opponents. The Huskies lead the league with 4.3 blocked shots per game.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS… Minnesota Duluth (12-5, 11-3 NSIC) is currently on a two-game winning streak after giving No. 24 MSUM its first conference loss of the season on Friday (69-53) and defeating Northern State for the first time in 14 attempts on Saturday (57-41). The Bulldogs were led by NSIC North Division Player of the Week Sammy Kozlowski who averaged 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 steals over the weekend. Kozlowski shot 43.0 percent from the field and 54.0 percent from three-point range to lead UMD. The senior has the highest scoring average (12.0 ppg) on the squad and leads the team and league with 3.1 steals per game. Sarah Grow averages double-digits with 10.2 points per game, hauls in a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest, and has swatted away 42 balls for a 2.5 average (2nd in NSIC). Brooke Olson averages 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds. UMD is in the bottom third for scoring offense with 62.5 points per game but has the best defensive team in the conference allowing just 54.2 points per game.
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa will take on the University of Mary on Fri. Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. and Minot State University on Sat. Feb. 9 at 3:30 p.m. in Dorman Gymnasium.
