Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Nicole Maenke (4) drives against a Minnesota State defender during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference womens basketball game in Marshall on Dec. 19. The Mustangs return to their home court to host Minot State and UMary this weekend.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team will begin a four-game homestand with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North matchups this weekend. The Mustangs will look to reach 10 wins this season when they host Minot State on Friday and UMary on Saturday.

Heading into the weekend, SMSU (8-7, 6-4 NSIC) sits third in the NSIC South and fifth in complete conference standings. Minot State (7-10, 4-6) sits sixth in the North and 11th in the NSIC, while UMary (14-5, 7-3 NSIC) occupies second in the North and fourth in the conference, just ahead of the Mustangs.

The matchups will be battles between the current top three 3-point shooting teams in the NSIC in terms of makes per game. Minot State ranks first with 9.6 3-pointers made per game, with UMary following with 8.5 and SMSU in third with 8.3 a game.

Audrey Swanson is currently on a day-to-day status for the Mustangs after she suffered a hit to the face that required stitches late in the game against Bemidji last Friday. She is SMSU’s current leading scorer with 16.4 points a game and second-leading rebounder with 7.4 on average.

The Mustangs and Beavers will face off from the R/A Facility on Friday at 7:30 p.m., then will take on the Marauders on Saturday at 7 p.m. for SMSU’s annual White Out game. A radio broadcast of both games can be found on 105.1 FM KARL, with live video and stats online at SMSUmustangs.com

Taking a look back

SMSU went 1-1 last weekend, defeating Bemidji State 75-69 on Friday and fell short to NSIC undefeated Minnesota Duluth in the final minute 69-65 on Saturday.

Swanson and Nicole Maenke led the Mustangs with 23 and 20 points, respectively, in the win against Bemidji. Natalie Nielsen logged 10 points with a team-high six rebounds.

The Mustangs’ defense made the difference maker down the stretch with three blocks, eight steals and 14 points off their 13 forced turnovers. Bemidji finished with three steals, three blocks and 6 points off turnovers.

SMSU came close to giving the Bulldogs their first conference loss, but UMD hit a 3-pointer and free throw in the final 14 seconds to break the tie and save the win.

Kylan Gerads led the Mustangs in that matchup with 20 points and six rebounds, and Maenke followed with 13 points. Elizabeth Wagner had a team-best eight rebounds.

Meeting up with Minot

Minot enters Friday’s matchup with SMSU looking to snap a three-game skid, suffering recent losses to UMary, St. Cloud State and No. 2 Minnesota State.

The Mustangs currently average 71.3 points per game to the Beavers’ 70.6, with SMSU holding a sizable advantage of averaging 11.8 offensive rebounds to Minot’s 5.8.

SMSU won its last matchup with Minot State handily last season on Jan. 11, 2025, 84-57.

Nielsen led the way with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Swanson finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Mustangs’ transition game stood out in the last meeting, with 19 fast break points to the Beavers’ 6.

Taryn Hamling currently leads Minot with 16.2 points and 2.1 steals a game. Maya Aguilar follows with 11.3 points on average with a team-leading 6.3 rebounds. Aguilar led the Beavers with 12 points against SMSU last January.

SMSU and Minot will both look to protect the ball efficiently in Friday’s game, who sit in sixth and seventh, respectively, in the NSIC out of the 16 teams with turnovers committed per game. The Mustangs currently average 16.5 turnovers to the Beavers’ 15.6.

The Mustangs have won their last seven meetings in a row against the Beavers, and will look to continue the trend on Friday.

Matching up with the Marauders

The Mustangs will quickly transition to take on the conference’s leading scorer in Bergen Kinnebrew for UMary on Saturday.

Kinnebrew leads the NSIC with 23.2 points per game, with Minnesota State’s Natalie Bremer following behind with 21.8.

Swanson and Maenke rank ninth and 10th in the conference in scoring. Maenke averages 16.2 points per game.

UMary has been a tenacious team on the offensive end this season, and comes into Saturday winning its last three of four games.

The Marauders rank third in the conference in scoring offense with 76.5 points a game and third in win margin by 9 points.

Saturday is bound to be a competitive shooting game. Along with ranking second in made 3-pointers, UMary also sits first in the conference with 3-point percentage at 39.9% from deep. SMSU ranks third with a 34.3% perimeter shooting average.

SMSU will also look to stay ahead on the defensive end and stop the Marauders strengths in blocking and steals. UMary averages 4.32 blocks a game, which ranks second in the NSIC, and 7.89 steals. The Mustangs average 2.33 blocks and 5.93 steals.

The Mustangs came away with an 86-77 win over UMary the last time the two met on Feb. 21 last season on the road.

Swanson powered SMSU in the meeting with 27 points, two blocks and nine rebounds, while Nielsen led with a team-high 12 rebounds to her 9 points. Bergen led UMary with 20 points to her six rebounds.

The two teams were locked close with one another in nearly every major statistical category in the last matchup, but the difference maker was the Mustangs’ 10 3-pointers to UMary’s six.

SMSU and UMary are 3-3 between their last six meetings, but the Mustangs hold an edge with games played in the R/A Facility, winning four of the last five games in Marshall against the Marauders.