THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S HOOPS… Upper Iowa returns to Fayette to play in front of the home crowd in Dorman Gymnasium for the first time in 2020. The Peacocks will welcome the Vikings of Augustana University on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then take the court against the Wildcats of Wayne State College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Both Augustana and Upper Iowa are looking for its first victory of the new decade, while Wayne State is searching for its second win in a row to potentially claim sole possession of third place in NSIC South Division standings.

LIVE OPTIONS… Live stats and webcast will be available for all three matchups through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live or the game can be streamed live on the Stretch Internet App for fans with Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple or Android televisions. In addition, Friday's game can be broadcast live on KCRG-TV 9.3, and Saturday's tilt can be broadcast on KCRG-TV 9.2.

A QUICK LOOK BACK… Upper Iowa will look to regroup in Fayette after the 2020 portion of schedule failed to get off on the right foot last weekend on the road. The Peacocks dropped a 77-59 decision to Northern State University on Friday night and then followed with a 76-32 loss against Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday afternoon. Scoreless droughts were the difference makers on both occasions. Upper Iowa trailed Northern State 46-45 with just under 15 minutes left in the contest, but a 19-0 run for the Wolves extended the margin to 20 and resulted in an 18-point loss for the Peacocks. Against the Dragons, Upper Iowa got into a deep hole early by surrendering a 27-0 run over the course of 13 minutes in the first half which allowed MSUM to cruise to the home victory the rest of the way. 

LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION… Upper Iowa lined up against both Augustana and Wayne State earlier this season and will look to avenge a pair of losses. In both games, the teams got out to early leads quick before shutting the door on the Peacocks with strong second halves. Upper Iowa struggled to defend the Vikings and Wildcats down low during the contests as the two units combined for 82 points in the paint compared to UIU's 40 on the other end of the court. The Peacocks also gave the ball away 40 times between the games, which translated into 45 points for their foes.

SEASON STAT LEADERS… Team leader in italics…

• Jessica Musgrave - 15.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 17 steals, 46.8% FG
• Megan Peterson - 8.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, 34.7% 3FG
• Natalie Dinius - 7.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 30.9% 3FG
• Bekka Pierson - 5.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 7 blocks, 36.6% FG
• Brooke Evenson - 4.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 9 steals, 6 blocks, 27.6% FG
• Marina Peinado - 2.6 ppg, 2.6 apg, 8 steals, 92.3% FT

SCOUTING AUGUSTANA… The Vikings (6-6, 2-6 NSIC) came up just shy of a victory against No. 18 University of Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon to push their current skid to four games. All but one of Augustana's losses this season have been within 10 points including a trio of games where the contest was decided by just two scores. AU averages 70.2 points per game as a unit led by three Vikings including Vishe' Rabb (14.2/game), Abby Hora (13.3/game), and Lauren Sees (12.1/game). The team is shooting 38.9 percent from the floor to rank 13th in the NSIC and 28.3 percent from distance, which ranks at the bottom of the conference. On the glass, the Vikings haul in 39.2 rebounds per game while allowing their opponents to pull down an average of 41.8 a contest. Hana Beyer leads that effort with 5.3 per game, and Camryn Hay chips in 4.0 a game. Augustana boasts the league's second-best turnover margin with a +6.83 mark as well as steals per game figure with 10.58 per game. 

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE… The Wildcats (10-4, 5-3 NSIC) have won three of their last four contests with wins over Mount Marty College (84-73), Augustana (77-67), and Southwest Minnesota State University (79-62). Like the Vikings, Wayne State has dropped its fair share of close games as all four losses have been by an average of just four points. The team is scoring 77.8 points per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor to rank second in both categories. Additionally, the Wildcats pull down the third-most rebounds in the league with 41.8 per contest. Erin Norling leads the team with 20.0 points (1st in NSIC) and 7.9 rebounds (6th in NSIC) per game, while Halley Busse (13.6 ppg, 3.4 apg) and Brittany Bongartz (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.8 bpg) also rank in the NSIC top-20 for multiple categories. 

UP NEXT… Upper Iowa remains at home for a pair of cross-division matchups against Bemidji State University and University of Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 17-18.