THIS WEEKEND IN PEACOCK WOMEN'S HOOPS… Upper Iowa embarks on the longest road trip of the season for the final inter-divisional games of the 2019-20 regular season. The Peacocks will first match up with the Marauders of University of Mary on Friday night in Bismarck, N.D. at 5:30 p.m. UIU will then close out the weekend against the Minot State University Beavers on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Live stats and webcast are available for both games through the links at UIUPeacocks.com/Live.
A QUICK LOOK BACK… Upper Iowa matched up with two of the top teams in NSIC standings in front of the home crowd last weekend. The homestand got off to a slow start on Friday night when the Peacocks fell behind 21-4 in the first frame against St. Cloud State University. Despite the slow start, Upper Iowa battled the rest of the way and was only outscored by four in the final three quarters. UIU then went into Saturday afternoon looking for a full 40 minutes of production, and the Peacocks managed just that against the top team in the league. Upper Iowa edged the guests 25-24 in the first and fourth quarters but a couple key runs in the middle frames served as the difference maker for UMD despite UIU's hard-fought battle.
GETTING BUCKETS… Jessica Musgrave reached double figures in both games to lead all UIU scorers with 36 total points; she tallied 10 points on Friday night before exploding for a career-high 26 points against the Bulldogs. Musgrave also hauled in 13 boards on Saturday to notch her second career double-double and push her weekend rebounding total to 19. The Toldeo, Iowa native ranks ninth in the NSIC with a 42.5 percent shooting clip from the floor, 10th with 14.3 points per game, and 15th with 6.4 rebounds per game.
LONG DISTANCE PLANS… The Peacocks currently rank fifth in the NSIC with 7.1 three-pointers per game and will look to take advantage of their range this weekend against two teams that rank at the bottom of the league for guarding outside the curve; UMary allows opponents to convert 34.6 percent of their shots behind the arc (14th in NSIC) and Minot State allows foes to shoot 35.4 percent (16th in NSIC). On the flip side, UMary and Minot State will look to challenge an Upper Iowa squad that holds opponents to 30.3 percent shooting beyond the arc (5th in NSIC). The Marauders knock down 7.3 three-pointers per game (4th in NSIC) and Minot State averages 4.2 triples (16th in NSIC).
SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS… UMary (15-10, 9-7 NSIC) saw a three-game winning streak come to an end last Saturday when the Marauders fell 80-73 to Augustana University as part of a weekend split on the road. The Marauders have the third-best offense in the conference (74.4 ppg) and seventh-best defense (66.2 ppg). UMary boasts an NSIC-leading field goal percentage of 45.4 percent from the floor as well as the top assists per game average with 16.2 per contest (5th in NCAA DII). On the glass, the Marauders haul in the ninth-most rebounds (37.2 rpg) in the league but restrict opponents to the fifth-fewest (33.4) for a plus 3.9 rebounding margin (4th in NSIC). The Marauders are lead by the NSIC's top scorer Cassie Askvig, a senior forward that averages 21.4 points per game on 50.3 percent shooting from the floor (4th in NSIC). Lauren Rotunda averages 12.1 points to rank second and Lexie Schneider adds 10.7 points, while the trio of Askvig (7.0), Rotunda (7.3), and Schneider (7.6) all average at least seven boards to lead the team and rank among the top-10 rebounders in the NSIC. Macy Williams handles the ball well with the second-best assists average (4.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0) in the league, while Christal Hearn has tallied the seventh-most steals (36).
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS… Minot State (4-16, 1-15 NSIC) ranks at the bottom of the NSIC North Division but has shown improvement as of late; the Beavers picked up their first conference victory of the season against Bemidji State University (72-65) on Jan. 24 and have since come close to a second and third NSIC win against University of Minnesota Crookston (78-76) and Wayne State College (73-72). Minot State averaged 71.0 points during that stretch, which is more than eight points higher than the Beavers' season average of 62.7 that ranks 14th in the league. MISU's strongest asset this year has been rebounding as the Beavers have the third-best margin in the Northern Sun with 38.2 rebounds per game (6th in NSIC) compared to their opponents' 33.2 per contest (4th in NSIC). The Beavers are led by senior Mariah Payne who averages 18.2 points (3rd in NSIC) and is shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 39.2 from 3-point land. Payne knocks down the second most 3-pointers per game in the league (2.5) and also leads the team in assists with 3.5 per contest (8th in NSIC). Calli Delsman (7.0) leads the team's rebounding efforts, while Anna Counts chips in 6.2 per game and registers 1.4 blocks per game (5th in NSIC).
UP NEXT… Upper Iowa returns to Dorman Gymnasium for the final home weekend of the season. The Peacocks will host Southwest Minnesota State University for UIU's annual Play 4 Kay game on Feb. 14 and No. 13 University of Sioux Falls for Senior Day on Feb. 15.
