• THE MINNESOTA CROOKSTON women's basketball team enters the weekend with a 2-14 (1-11 NSIC) mark. The Golden Eagles are looking to snap a seven-game skid as they return home to open up a four-game home stand at Lysaker Gymnasium. Minnesota Crookston is looking to put together a consistent four quarters as it has been one quarter that has hurt the Golden Eagles consistently this season. The Golden Eagles have continued to come into their own with a young roster and are looking to get a crucial victory in order to take a step forward on the 2019-20 season. 

• DEAR ABBY. Minnesota Crookston junior Abby Guidinger has become Minnesota Crookston's go-to scoring option as evidenced by her 13.4 points per game over the last nine for the Golden Eagles. Guidinger had a season-high 20 points in a win over Wayne State in December. She notched 19 points on the road at her father's Alma Mater Minnesota Duluth earlier this month. Guidinger comes in notching 10.1 points per game on the season. She is shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from beyond the arc. Guidinger will be a crucial player for the Golden Eagles this weekend against UMary and Minot State. 

• GIVE ME SOME PEP. Julia Peplinski has given some energy off the bench for the Golden Eagles. Peplinski has scored in double-figures in two of the last three games for the Golden Eagles. She is tallying 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Golden Eagles over the last three tilts. Peplinski's big hump to get over is to stay out of foul trouble as she had four foul against Upper Iowa and Bemidji State, and has had three fouls six times this season. If she can get over that hurdle, she will be a huge factor in the post moving forward for Minnesota Crookston. 

• SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. Redshirt Freshman Mary Burke is in her first full season playing for the Golden Eagles and she has a bright future ahead of her. Burke has tallied double-figure scoring in three of the last five games, and narrowly missed it the other two times with nine points against Northern State and Winona State. She comes in tallying 12.0 points per game over the last five for the Golden Eagles. Burke notched 14 points and nine rebounds last weekend against Upper Iowa. Her season-high came with 16 points on the road at Minnesota Duluth. On the season, she is tallying 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds. Burke will look to continue to be a factor this weekend for Minnesota Crookston.

• POST GAME.  She might not be a post player, but Kylie Post continues to make a major impact on the game for the Golden Eagles. The sophomore from Corcoran, Minn., has started 12 games this season at point guard for Minnesota Crookston. Post is notching 6.9 points per game on the season. She had a season-high 17 points earlier this month against Northern State. Post is averaging 9.3 points per tilt over the last four for the Golden Eagles. Last Friday against Winona State, she notched 10 points, had four rebounds, dished out three assists and tallied three steals. Post will look to make an impact on all facets of the game this weekend.

• SHE'S THE VETSCH.  Minnesota Crookston freshman guard Mattea Vetsch has shown some great moments as a freshman, as she looks to develop into a strong player both defensively and offensively. Vetsch tallied 15 points off the bench, including going 5-of-10 from beyond the arc against Upper Iowa. Earlier this season, she tallied 17 points on 5-of-7 from behind the three-point line on the road against Northern State. Vetsch comes in averaging 4.5 points per game on the season and has been one of the best three-point shooters for the Golden Eagles, hitting at a 36.4 percent clip.

• PASS IT TO PETERSON.  Minnesota Crookston has another freshman in Alyssa Peterson from Menahga, Minn., who will be an integral part of the team moving forward. Last weekend, Peterson notched 11.0 points per game for the Golden Eagles. Peterson had a season-high 17 points on the road against St. Cloud State earlier this month. She notched 15 points on the road against MSU Moorhead, and had 13 points last Saturday versus Upper Iowa. Peterson comes in shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc. She looks to be a lynchpin in Minnesota Crookston's future as she continues to develop.

• AGAINST THE MARAUDERS.  Minnesota Crookston has lost their last two meetings with UMary. The Golden Eagles won two-straight Jan. 19 and Feb. 1, 2018. Minnesota Crookston has won seven of the last 10 games against the Marauders. The Golden Eagles had a five-game win streak over Umary from Jan. 2, 2015 to Jan. 20, 2017. UMary won the last meeting 63-58 at Lysaker Gymnasium Feb. 16, 2019. 

• BATTLING THE BEAVERS.  Minnesota Crookston has lost their last two games against Minot State. The Golden Eagles have been victorious in seven of the last 12 meetings with the Beavers. Minnesota Crookston had a four-game winning streak from Feb. 12, 2016 until Feb. 17, 2017. Minot State won the last meeting narrowly edging the Golden Eagles 78-77 in Lysaker Gymnasium Feb. 15, 2019. 

UMARY. UMary has a 12-9 (6-6 NSIC) record coming into the weekend. The Marauders have lost their last three games with their last win coming over a very strong Minnesota Duluth squad Jan. 10 in Bismarck, N.D. UMary has lost five of their last six games. Prior to their skid, the Marauders had won four-straight from Dec. 13-21. UMary is currently in fifth in the NSIC North standings. 

YOU JUST HAVE TO ASKVIG. Askvig has been one of the premier players in the NSIC the last two years. She was third in the NSIC in scoring in 2018-19, and currently leads the league with 22.0 points per game. Askvig tallied an NSIC record 45 points on 14-of-23 from the field and 17-of-20 from the charity stripe against Southwest Minnesota State University. Askvig has tallied 30 or more points in three of the last four games for UMary and will look to continue to build off those performances this weekend. 

LAUREN LOFTING THE THREE. Lauren Rotunda comes in averaging 11.1 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per tilt for the Marauders. She has been dangerous from beyond the arc, where she is hitting at a 47.9 percent clip on the season. Rotunda has tallied double-figure scoring in each of the last four games for UMary. Rotunda had 16 points, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc against Top-15 team Sioux Falls last weekend. 

MACY MAGIC. Macy Williams has been a great distributor for the Marauders as she comes in with 93 assists on the year for an average of 4.4 assists per game. 

OAK CREEK CONNECTION. Both Kassandra Bartek of UMary and Paige Cornale are products of Oak Creek High School in Oak Creek, Wis., a school also famous for producing Minnesota Crookston men's basketball player Harrison Cleary.

MINOT STATE. Minot State enters the weekend with a 3-13 (0-12 NSIC) mark. The Beavers are searching for their first conference win. Minot State took Minnesota Duluth to overtime at home on Jan. 11. They come in averaging 60.6 points, while allowing 70.6 to their foes. Minot state is shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 30.1 percent from beyond the arc. 

WHAT A PAYNE. Minot State guard Mariah Payne is a pain to contain for opposing teams. She comes in leading the team with 17.2 points per game. She has been an amazing outside threat, hitting at 41.4 percent on the season. Payne is shooting 41.7 percent from the field on the season. She has notched 20 or more points on seven occasions this season, including 35 points versus Concordia-St. Paul.

FROM DOWN UNDER. Minot State has three players from Australia, as they have continued a tradition of having players from the Land Down Under on their roster including program greats Carly and Christina Boag. The Beavers currently have Payne, Bethany Theodore, and Lucy Chapman on their 2019-20 roster. 

WHAT ABOUT WAUKESHA. Both Abby Guidinger of Minnesota Crookston and Calli Delsman of Minot State are originally from Waukesha, Wis. Guidinger played for Kettle Moraine High School, while Delsman suited up for Waukesha West High School. 

MARANATHA CONNECTION. Minot State guard Breianna Smestad and Minnesota Crookston guard Kylie Post were high school teammates at Maranatha Christian Academy in Brooklyn Park, Minn. They helped their team to a 29-6 mark and the Class A semi-finals where they lost to Golden Eagle Mary Burke and her Mountain Iron-Buhl H.S. team.  

WEEKLY SNAPSHOT

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON
Projected Starters
So. PG 5 Kylie Post (5-7, Corcoran, Minn.)     6.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.7 APG
Fr. SG 3 Alyssa Peterson (5-8, Menahga, Minn.)    6.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Jr. 3G 12 Abby Guidinger (5-10, Waukesha, Wis.)    10.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG
R-Fr. SF 22 Mary Burke (5-11, Virginia, Minn.)     7.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG
So. PF 31 Julia Peplinski (5-10, Hustisford, Wis.)    6.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG

Top Bench Players
So. G 24 Paige Cornale (5-10, Oak Creek, Wis.)    4.4 PPG, 2.1 RPG
Fr. G 15 Mattea Vetsch (5-8, Devils Lake, N.D.)    4.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Fr. G 21 Emma Carpenter (5-10, Eagan, Minn.)    1.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.9 APG
Jr. G/F 10 Ashley Freund (5-11, Jordan, Minn.)    2.5 PPG, 1.2 RPG
Sr. F/C 14 Amber Schoenicke (6-1, Marshall, Wis.)    1.3 PPG, 1.4 RPG

UMARY
Projected Starters
Jr. PG 1 Macy Williams (5-7, Sussex, Wis.)     8.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG,
Jr. SG 20 Coral Gillette (6-0, Bismarck, N.D.)    9.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Jr. 3G 24 Lauren Rotunda (6-0, Fargo, N.D.)     11.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG
Sr. SF 12 Cassie Askvig (6-2, Minot, N.D.)     22.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG
So. PF 4 Lexie Schneider (6-3, Hilbert, Wis.)     10.4 PPG, 7.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 2 Christal Hearn (5-11, Mequon, Wis.)     3.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Fr. G 23 Megan Voit (5-9, Sauk Rapids, Minn.)    2.5 PPG, 0.9 RPG
So. G 13 Carly Kottsick (5-8, Fargo, N.D.)     1.2 PPG, 0.4 RPG

MINOT STATE
Projected Starters
Sr. PG 4 Mariah Payne (5-7, Burnie, Australia)    17.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG  
Jr. SG 3 Bethany Theodore (5-4, Melbourne, Australia)    7.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. 3G 12 Calli Delsman (5-10, Waukesha, Wis.)    8.1 PPG, 7.2 RPG
So. SF 30 Mollie Wilson (5-11, Gillette, Wyo.)     4.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Jr. PF 22 Haley Hildenbrand (6-2, Parker, Colo.)    6.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. F/C 44 Anna Counts (6-2, Crystal, Minn.)    7.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG
Sr. G 14 Danielle Rizzari (5-3, Clearbrook, Va.)    2.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Sr. G 11 Raegan Sanchez (5-6, Yukon, Okla.)     1.4 PPG, 0.7 RPG
Sr. F/C 42 Reina Strand (6-1, Keizer, Ore.)     2.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Fr. G 23 Breianna Smestad (5-7, Plymouth, Minn.)    2.8 PPG, 1.1 RPG

- Can the Golden Eagles stop their losing streak this weekend?

- Can the Golden Eagles limit Cassie Askvig after she scored an NSIC-record 45 points last weekend?

- Can the Golden Eagle control the outside shooting of Lauren Rotunda for UMary?

- Will Abby Guidinger continue her strong play of late?

- Will Mary Burke continue to come into her own for the Golden Eagles?

- Who else will step up and make big plays for the Golden Eagles?

- Can Minnesota Crookston find their three-point shot consistently this weekend?

- Will Minnesota Crookston be able to limit Mariah Payne for Minot State?