The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team has advanced to the next round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) tournament, facing the University of Mary Marauders in the semifinal round of the tournament.
Matchup information
Monday, March 4
7:00 PM vs. University of Mary
Watch Live: https://www.midcosportsplus.com/
Live Stats: https://northernsun.org/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
The season so far
The Bulldogs finished their regular season last week with a narrow one-point win over the St. Cloud State University Huskies. UMD finished with a 17-9 overall record and 14-8 conference record, ranked seventh for the tournament.
Ranks, ranks, ranks
UMD is currently out of the latest WBCA national rankings, having been last ranked the week of Dec. 12. MSU Mankato is ranked No. 21 as it resides as the NSIC's sole representative. The Bulldogs still hold the top field goal percentage (43.5%) in the conference, and are in the top three in the conference in blocks per game (4.3).
Scouting Report – Umeri
The University of Mary Marauders come into the tournament with a 21-10 overall record and 16-6 conference record following a quarterfinal win over the St. Cloud State Huskies. The Bulldogs are 9-11 against the Marauders since 2013, with their most recent matchup resulting in an 11-point loss on the road to UMD.
Bulldog starts at five
The Bulldogs have a mix of veteran presence and young athleticism in the starting five (incl Ella Gilbertson, Madeleine Granica, Myra Moorjani, Lexi CarkeAnd Taitum Rhodes) continues to have strong performances on both sides of the ball. Has 1322 points, 620 rebounds and 276 assists so far this season.
Preseason Player to Watch – Gilbertson
Senior guard/forward Ella Gilbertson UMD was voted the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year to Watch back in October prior to the start of the season. Gilbertson has scored 303 points with a 10.8 points/game average so far this season, while collecting 171 rebounds, 54 assists, 28 steals and 2 blocks.
All roads lead to Taitum
Graduate Student Guard Taitum Rhodes Continues to dominate the court. The St. Paul native currently leads the team in points (325) this season with an average of 11.6 points/game. Rhodes started all 28 games for the Bulldogs this season, pacing the team in minutes per game with 31.9. He leads the team in most field goal attempts (314), and three-point attempts (85), while also leading the team in assists (128), steals (40) and blocks (37). Rhodes is closing in on the prestigious 1000 career point milestone and currently sits at 941 career points.
Go to Granica
Graduate student guard/forward Madeleine Granica The Bulldogs also had a strong final season. Granica has the highest field goal percentage (.543) in five regular season starts, starting all 27 games for UMD. He averaged 10.1 points/game on the year with 284 points.
All conference superstars
Graduate Student Guard Taitum Rhodes and senior guard/forward Ella Gilbertson Both earned NSIC All-Conference team nominations on Thursday, the first All-Conference nominations in both players' careers. Rhodes was voted all-conference first team by the NSIC and currently leads the Bulldogs in four statistical categories, including total points (325) this season. Gilbertson was voted to the NSIC All-Conference Second Team and currently leads the Bulldogs in rebounds (171) this season.
Looking ahead
If the Bulldogs win their match, they will head off the MSU Mankato winner against Southwestern E. State in the NSIC Tournament Championship Game. The game will begin on Tuesday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m.