THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S HOOPS… Upper Iowa enters this year's NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament as the South Division's No. 8 seed and will travel to University of Minnesota Duluth, the No. 1 seed from the North Division, on Wednesday for the opening round beginning at 5:30 pm.. The winner of the UIU/UMD game will face the victor of the Concordia University, St. Paul (South #4) and Northern State University (North #5) matchup on Sunday, Mar. 1 at 12 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D. Live stats and a webcast will be available for Wednesday night's game through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.

EARLIER THIS SEASON… Upper Iowa put up a hard-fought battle against the eventual NSIC Regular Season Champions on Feb. 1 in a contest that ended in the slimmest margin between the programs since the 2010-11 season. After UMD edged the Peacocks by two in the first 10 minutes, a three-point play from Jessica Musgrave and a Lexie Lodermeier layup gave Upper Iowa the lead at 17-16 with 8:22 left in the first half. The Bulldogs got back out front shortly after but the Peacocks stayed within striking distance for the remainder of the half and went into the locker room down by just two possessions, 34-29. Minnesota Duluth pushed its advantage out to 13 with an 8-0 run to start the third period, and the two teams then traded 15 points each with UIU's scoring fueled by 11 points from Musgrave. Seven more points from the freshman guard pulled Upper Iowa within six, 57-51, with 7:03 left in the game, but the Bulldogs shut the door on the home team with a 9-6 run including a 7-0 spurt to close out the game ahead by double-digits. Musgrave finished the game with career-high points (26) and rebounds (13), while Brooke Evenson chipped in 11 points. 

LEADER OF THE PACK… In the final weekend of the regular season, Jessica Musgrave averaged 16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists to earn a spot on the weekly NSIC Top Performers list for the eighth time this season. She notched her fourth career double-double on Friday evening with 16 points and 10 rebounds before tallying 17 points and eight rebounds, including a career-high six offensive, on Saturday afternoon. The pair of games in double-figures gives her 22 for the season as the freshman averages just under 15.0 points per game to lead the team and rank seventh among all NSIC players. Musgrave also ranks among the best in the conference for field goal percentage (41.8% - 9th), overall rebounding (6.7/game - 13th), and offensive rebounding (2.5/game - 4th). 

SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH… The Bulldogs (23-5, 20-2 NSIC) swept the final weekend of competition to claim the NSIC regular season title for the first time since the 2002-03 season and earn the No. 1 seed in the Northern Division. UMD is currently riding a nine-game winning streak and was ranked No. 2 in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings. Minnesota Duluth has the sixth-lowest points per game average in the NSIC (68.9) but has the third-best scoring margin thanks to a scoring defense that holds opponents to just 60.0 points per game (1st in NSIC) on 38.6 percent shooting (2nd in NSIC). Offensively, the Bulldogs are one of the most efficient shooting teams in the league; UMD shoots 44.3 percent from the floor (2nd in NSIC) and 34.7 percent from long-range (6th in NSIC). UMD also leads the conference with 16.25 assists per game and a 1.33 assist-to-turnover ratio. On the glass, the Bulldogs average 34.8 rebounds (16th in NSIC) and allow opponents to haul in 36.4 per game (7th in NSIC). Brooke Olson leads Minnesota Duluth in both scoring and rebounding thanks to 16.0 points (5th in NSIC) on 50.7 percent shooting (2nd in NSIC) and 6.4 rebounds (15th in NSIC) per game. Sarah Grow (10.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg), Katie Stark (9.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 bpg), Ann Simonet (8.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg), and Maesyn Thiesen (7.9 ppg, 4.3 apg, 1.8 spg) also play important roles for the Bulldogs. Minnesota Duluth is undefeated on its home court this season.