CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball will look to pick up the sweep of Bemidji State University as they take their Northern Minnesota rival on Tues., Jan. 10 at 6 p.m. The game will be played at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn. The Sanford Center is one of the premier sport venues in Northwest Minnesota and is normally the home of BSU men's and women's hockey. The BSU men's and women's basketball team has started a tradition of playing at least one weekend at the Sanford Center over the last three seasons. This will be the third-consecutive game for BSU women's basketball at the Sanford Center.

The Golden Eagles come into the weekend with a 3-10 (3-6 NSIC) mark. UMC has picked up three wins in their last five games, including a 78-76 thrilling victory over St. Cloud State University Saturday. Bemidji State enters the weekend with a 4-9 (1-8 NSIC) mark. The Beavers picked up their first conference win on Saturday against University of Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Mike Roysland
Record at UMC: 100-180 Season at UMC: 11^th Season

Bemidji State Beavers
Head Coach: Chelsea DeVille
Record at BSU: 11-30 Season at BSU: Second Season

Jan. 10, 2017 – Bemidji, Minn. – Sanford Center – 6 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bsu/
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=141834
Radio: 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM (Chris Fee, Play by Play)

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. PG 10 Micaela Noga (5-7, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) – 7.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg
So. SG 14 Alison Hughes (5-7, Janesville, Wis.) – 16.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg
So. 3G 3 Caitlin Michaelis (5-8, Marshfield, Wis.) – 4.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg
Fr. SF 5 Stephanie McWilliams (5-8, Grand Forks, N.D.) – 1.1 ppg, 0.9 apg
Jr. PF 22 Emily Gruber (5-11, Monticello, Minn.) – 6.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Top Bench Players
R-So. F/C 15 Isieoma Odor (6-0, Bloomington, Minn.) – 12.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg
Fr. G 11 Kitri Zezza (5-7, Albertville, Minn.) – 5.5 ppg, 1.8 apg
Fr. G/F 20 Kelsey Stinson (5-11, Cottage Grove, Wis.) – 5.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg
Fr. G/F 32 Paige Weakley (5-9, Kearney, Mo.) – 4.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg

Bemidji State
Projected Starters
Sr. PG 1 Allison Cordes (5-7, Roseville, Minn.) – 3.7 ppg, 1.8 apg
Sr. SG 12 Aimee Pelzer (5-9, Upsala, Minn.) – 14.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg
Sr. 3G 15 Tatum Sheley (5-9, Backus, Minn.) – 13.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Jr. SF 22 Sam Adamich (5-11, Anoka, Minn.) – 4.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg
Jr. PF 32 Sierra Senske (6-2, Glyndon, Minn.) – 11.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 13 Erica Gartner (5-7, Altamont, Kan.) – 5.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Jr. G 24 Mikayla Larson (5-10, Des Moines, Iowa) – 0.9 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Sr. G 3 Hanna Zerr (5-10, Shakopee, Minn.) – 5.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg
Fr. F/C 55 Sydney Arrington (6-0, Sioux Falls, S.D.) – 8.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg
 
#5StoryLines
1.Can the Golden Eagles slow down shooters Aimee Pelzer and Tatum Sheley?
2.Will Isieoma Odor build off her success of last weekend?
3.Who will step up to make the big play?
4.Will the UMC freshmen continue to make strides?
5.Can UMC guards Alison Hughes and Micaela Noga have better shooting games?

#100Wins
UMC Head Coach Mike Roysland reached 100 wins in thrilling fashion as Emily Gruber hit a three-pointer with 3.8 seconds left to defeat St. Cloud State University. Roysland is the first UMC coach during the NSIC era to reach 100 wins in a career. He will look to add on to his win total heading into Tuesday.

#IsyInside
UMC sophomore Isieoma Odor had the best weekend of her collegiate career last weekend. The post player was moved to the bench on the weekend and the experiment worked. Odor averaged 20.5 points and nine rebounds in two games on the weekend en route to being named NSIC North Player of the Week. Odor had 22 points and nine boards on 10-of-11 from the field against St. Cloud State. Odor will look to have a big game against Bemidji State as she looks to build off her weekend's performance.

#TurnThePaige
UMC freshman Paige Weakley has come on as of late. The Kearney, Mo., native is coming off her best game of the season with 14 points on 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Weakley is averaging 7.7 points over the last three games for UMC. She had nine points and five boards versus Upper Iowa on Dec. 31. Weakley will look to continue her success against Bemidji State.

#Sparkplug
UMC freshman Stephanie McWilliams might not have had the most impressive box score in either game this weekend but the Grand Forks native was definitely a sparkplug for the Golden Eagles. Earning the first two starts of her career, McWilliams added energy, strong defense and good ball movement to the equation for UMC. McWilliams averaged 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists on the weekend. She was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe on Friday against Minnesota Duluth.

#HughesLeadingTheWay
Alison Hughes continues to lead the way for the Golden Eagles. The sophomore shooting guard is averaging 16.2 points per game on the season. Hughes is shooting 40.9 percent from beyond the arc and 94.0 percent from the charity stripe. Hughes averaged 15.5 points and six rebounds on the weekend. She did a strong job of crashing the boards on the weekend with seven rebounds on Friday against UMD and five versus St. Cloud State

#Tidbits
-The Golden Eagles will look to continue their recent success as they have won three games in the last five. Minnesota Crookston comes in with a 3-10 mark on the season. They continue to mesh as a team as they had early season woes as they looked to replace All-NSIC First Team picks Katrina Nordick and Alexa Thielman. UMC seems to have found something in recent weeks and will look to build off of it moving forward.

-UMC is averaging 64.6 points per game on the season. They are shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles are giving up 74.9 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 46.3 percent from the field.

-The Golden Eagles picked up an 80-68 win over Bemidji State at Lysaker Gymnasium Dec. 15. UMC shot 42.1 percent on the game and was led by 22 points from Alison Huighes. BSU shot 38.2 percent from the field and was led by 24 points from Aimee Pelzer.

-Bemidji State is coming off a big win over Minnesota Duluth. The Beavers are 4-9 overall, but the win over the Bulldogs was their first conference victory. They are in their second season under Chelsea DeVille. They have also made recent changes to their starter as senior Allison Cordes has been moved to the starting line-up, while senior Hanna Zerr has been relegated to the bench.

-Bemidji State has been led on the season by Aimee Pelzer, Tatum Sheley and Sierra Senske. Pelzer is averaging 14.6 points per game and is shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. Sheley is averaging 13.0 points per game and is shooting 37.7 percent from behind the three-point line. Senske is tallying 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in the post.

-The Beavers are averaging 70.1 points per game. Bemidji State is shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 33.4 percent from beyond the arc.