Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University’s Nicole Maenke begins to drive toward the basket against Minnesota State on Dec. 19, 2025, in Marshall. The Mustangs travel to take on Bemidji and Minnesota Duluth this weekend.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team will aim to continue starting the new year off strong with another two wins as it hits the road this weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games. The Mustangs will take on Bemidji State Friday night before looking to hand Minnesota Duluth its first conference loss on Saturday. 

Both Bemidji and Minnesota Duluth come from the NSIC North, who stand in first and sixth in the standings of eight teams, respectively, entering the weekend. SMSU currently sits in fourth in the NSIC South. 

The Mustangs are coming off an 87-79 revenge win over Sioux Falls last Saturday, after falling to the Cougars in November, with three different players scoring more than 20 points. SMSU was led by Natalie Nielsen’s 26-point, 10-rebound double-double, her fifth of the season. Audrey Swanson added 24 points, along with 11 rebounds, while Nicole Maenke followed with 21 points. 

SMSU (7-6, 5-3 NSIC) and the Beavers will tip off from the BSU Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by the Romano Gymnasium Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against the Bulldogs. A radio broadcast of both games can be found on 105.1 FM KARL, with live video and stats online at SMSUmustangs.com

Bracing for the Beavers 

Bemidji enters the weekend 6-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play, and is looking to snap a four-game skid. 

The Beavers will be hosting SMSU for their fourth of a five-game homestand, but recently suffered losses from University of Mary, Minot State and Minnesota Duluth. All three losses came by at least 10 points. 

SMSU has won four of the last five against Bemidji, including the last four times SMSU has traveled to the Beavers’ gym. 

Bemidji is led by senior forward Kassandra Caron, who averages 18.8 points a game and leads the team in both steals and blocks along with 4.5 rebounds. Aubrey Heyer averages a team-high 6.8 boards for Bemidji. 

SMSU has four players averaging double-figure scoring, led by Maenke’s 16.2 and 37% 3-point shooting. Swanson follows close behind with 15.9 a game, as do Kylan Gerads and Nielsen with 12.5 points on average. 

Nielsen, Swanson and Gerads also lead the Mustangs on the glass with over six rebounds a game, carried by Nielsen’s team-high 8.8 boards. 

One of SMSU’s greatest strengths continued to be its perimeter shooting. The Mustangs currently rank 10th of all Division II teams, as of Wednesday, in made 3-pointers a game with 8.6, and on average hold their opponents to four a game. 

SMSU will look to protect the ball well against the Beavers, who committed 13.4 turnovers a game to the Mustangs’ 17.2 average. 

Friday will be the first meeting between the two this season. The last time SMSU and Bemidji met on Jan. 24 last year, the Mustangs came away with a 77-51 win behind Swanson’s 24 points. 

SMSU made it count most with 27 points off forcing 21 turnovers in the matchup, while Bemidji forced just 12 Mustang turnovers for 9 points. 

A tall task with the Bulldogs 

Minnesota Duluth has made a drastic change to start this season from where it ended a year prior, already matching its total number of wins overall and in conference. 

The Bulldogs finished the 2024-25 season 10-18 overall and 8-14 in the NSIC, and enter this weekend on a nine-game win streak, 10-2 overall and with an undefeated 8-0 start in conference play. 

Minnesota Duluth currently sits at the top of the NSIC North and in second in the complete conference standings, only behind undefeated Minnesota State at 14-0. SMSU is in sixth in the conference standings of the total 16 teams. 

Saturday is bound to be an offensively-competitive game as the Bulldogs are also strong from deep, ranking 27th in the nation with 8.1 3-pointers a game. 

SMSU averages 71.5 points a game with a 1.4 scoring margin, to the Bulldogs’ 75.6 and larger 13.3 win margin. 

The Mustangs will look to hone in to their defense to hand Minnesota Duluth its first conference loss, who average 38.1 rebounds to the Bulldogs’ 37.7. Yet, Minnesota Duluth is also strong on the defensive end with an average 17.2 points off turnovers and 7.9 steals to SMSU’s 12.3 points and 5.8 steals. 

All but two of Minnesota Duluth’s last nine wins have come by double figures. The Bulldogs are currently led by sophomore Claire Bjorge’s 14.9 points a game who leads the team in steals as well. Senior Lexi Karge leads the team with 5.3 rebounds a game on average.  

The Mustangs have won the three of the last four games against Minnesota Duluth, most recently coming away with an 89-63 victory the last time the two met on Feb. 5 last season. 

Since-graduated backcourt duo Bri Stoltzman and Peyton Blandin led SMSU in the win with 27 and 23 points, respectively, while Swanson notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. SMSU impressively forced 20 Bulldogs’ turnovers in the last meeting for 22 points, while committing just 10. 

Following this weekend, SMSU will return back home to the R/A Facility next Friday and Saturday to host Minot State and UMary.