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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team hits the road this week for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games. The Dragons will face the University of Mary on Friday at 6 p.m. in Bismarck, N.D., and then follow with a game at Minot State at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

It is the Dragons' first road trip of the conference season.

MSUM and Minot State will meet for an 18th team with the Dragons leading the series 14-3. The two teams split a year ago.  The Dragons will meet Mary for a 32nd time with MSUM leading the series 21-10. The two teams split a year ago as well.

Live stats, live video and live radio links can be accessed at msumdragons.com

About MSUM
The Dragons are 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC. They split two games last week, beating Valley City State, 83-53 on Nov. 25, led by a career-high 24 points from senior forward Morgan Zabel, before losing their NSIC opener to Northern State, 96-88 on Saturday despite 23 points from senior post Megan Strese.

Zabel leads the Dragons at 18.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She has been in double figures in all five games so far. Strese is averaging 14.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while sophomore guard Meghan Roehrich is averaging 11.4 points per game. Senior guard Haley Thomforde is averaging 4.2 assists per game. Zabel leads with eight steals.

The Dragons are shooting 45.9 percent from the field, including 37.6 percent from three-point range. The Dragons outrebound their opponents 39.6-30.4. MSUM allows only 68.8 points per game and is holding teams to 41.8 percent shooting from the field this season.

Karla Nelson is her 14th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 228-149 at the school.

About Mary
Mary is 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC. The Marauders lost to Minot State, 79-72 last weekend in Minot, N.D. Brittney Dietz paced the Marauders with 24 points while Linda Murray added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Murray leads Mary at 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Dietz is averaging 18.3 points per game while LIndsey Sand is at 12.5 points and a team-best 5.8 assists per contest.

The Marauders are averaging 78.3 points per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field. Mary is outrebounding its opposition, 40.3-33.5. Teams are shooting 39.4 percent against the Marauder defense.

Rick Neumann is in his second year as Mary's head coach with a record of 21-11 at the school.

About Minot State
The Beavers are 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC. They are coming off of a 79-72 home win over Mary last Saturday night. Alisha Jones led Minot State with 20 points while Carly Boag added 19.

Boag is averaging 23.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game to lead Minot State, while Jones is averaging 12.6. Katie Hardy averages 11.6 points per game while Christian Boag is at 11.2. Jones leads with 19 assists, while the Boag sisters each have 17 steals.

Minot State averaged 80.2 points per game and shoots 45.6 percent from the field. The Beavers are outrebounding their opponents 41.6-38.0. Teams are shooting only 32.9 percent against Minot State this season.

Sheila Green Gerding is in her 19th season as Minot State's head coach with a record of 320-213.

Climbing the Charts
A pair of Dragons are nearing 1,000 points for their collegiate careers. Megan Strese is at 916 career points, just 84 away from the milestone, while Zabel is at 785 points, just 215 away. In addition, Thomforde is at 266 career assists, just 20 away from the top 10.

Statistical Rankings…
--MSUM leads the NSIC in rebounding margin at +9.2, which is 34th best in the nation.
--MSUM is ranked 21st in all of Division II in free-throw percentage (76.7).
--Roehrich is ranked 15th in the nation in free-throw percentage (95.2).