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The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team opens the 2014-15 season by hosting the Highway 75 Classic starting on Friday. The Dragons, who are co-hosting the event along with Minnesota Crookston, will begin the year against Wisconsin-Parkside at 6 p.m. on Friday and they conclude the event with a game against Northern Michigan at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Minnesota Crookston will also face NMU (8 p.m. on Friday) and UWP (7 p.m. on Saturday) at the event. All games will be played at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Dragons will not face Minnesota Crookston at the event.

MSUM will meet Wisconsin-Parkside for a second time; the Dragons beat the Rangers, 71-68 at the Concordia-St. Paul tournament last year. MSUM will meet Northern Michigan for a second time; the Dragons won the other meeting, 66-55 in 2006 at the Concordia tournament.

MSU Moorhead
The Dragons – 16-11 a year ago – will have a different look after graduating three senior starters and three of their top four scorers. The leading returning scorer for the Dragons is junior guard Meghan Roehrich, who averaged 11.4 points per game last year. She led MSUM in three-point percentage (47.7), made three-pointers (51) and free-throw percentage (89.7 percent). Junior forward Savanna Handevidt (5.7 points per game) and sophomore guard Morgan Banasik (5.5 points per game) also return after starting all 27 games a year ago. Junior forward Heather Strese and sophomore guard Natalie VanWyhe also return after appearing in all 27 games last season. The Dragons will be bolstered by the healthy return of redshirt freshman forward Drew Sannes, who missed last season because of injury. Junior Jessica Hart, a transfer from South Dakota State, will also be counted on to contribute, as will fellow newcomers junior Cheyenne Ironheart and freshmen Mallie Doucette, Shannon Galegher, Mikayla Payne and Cassidy Thorson.  Karla Nelson is in her 15th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 240-159 at the school.

About Northern Michigan
The Wildcats went 22-8 last season and 16-6 in winning the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament title. Northern Michigan was picked to win the GLIAC North Division title in the league's preseason coaches poll. Two NMU players earned preseason all-conference honors – senior guards Alyssa Colla and Lauren Gruber. Colla scored 16.4 points a game last season while Gruber averaged 9.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Junior forward Abbey DeBruin also returns after averaging 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, giving the Wildcats three returning players who started all 30 games a year ago. Northern Michigan lost to Division I foe Butler, 67-47 in an exhibition game on Nov. 2. Nea Makela led the way with 11 points. Troy Mattson is in his 10th season as the NMU head coach with a record of 124-142.

About Wisconsin-Parkside
The Rangers were 8-18 last season under the direction of Head Coach Jacob Yorg, who is entering his second season as the team's head coach. UWP returns its top two scorers from a year ago in senior guard Gaby Bronson (14.3 points per game) and junior guard Tara Knapstein (12.5 points per game). The team also returns its third-leading scorer, senior Maddie Johnston (8.6), from 2013-14. MSUM met the Rangers last year at the Concordia-St. Paul tournament and won 71-68. UWP lost to Big Ten foe Northwestern, 78-47 in an exhibition game on Nov. 9. Tara Knapstein had 10 points for the Rangers. Earlier UWP beat Division I Valparaiso 69-52 on Nov. 1 in an exhibition. UWP was picked to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference's East Division in the preseason coaches poll. Yorg is in his second season at the UWP head coach with a record of 8-18 at the school.

About Minnesota Crookston
The Golden Eagles, who finished 10-17 a yearago, will meet both Northern Michigan and Wisconsin-Parkside at the classic but will not face MSUM. Junior Katrina Moenkedick, a second-team all-conference pick a year ago, is back after averaging 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Junior Alexa Thielman averaged 15.2 points per game last season. UMC returns two other starters (Ebony Livingston and Ashley Martell) from last year's team. UMC has three seniors and five juniors on its roster. The Golden Eagles lost to Division I foe North Dakota, 70-50 despite leading 31-28 at halftime. Moenkedick and Micaela Noga led the way with 10 points each. Mike Roysland is in his ninth season as the UMC head coach with a record of 61-155 at the school.

Records set
The Dragons set three records in 2013-14:
Individual free throw percentage (single-season): Meghan Roehrich (.897)
Individual three-point percentage (single-season): Meghan Roehrich (.477)
Team free throw percentage (single-season): (.798)

Dragons Rank in Free Throws
MSUM ranks third in the nation in free-throw percentage at 79.8 percent.  Roehrich is 10th in the nation at 89.7 percent.