MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Eighth-seeded MSU Moorhead women's basketball will host ninth-seeded Winona State in the NSIC Tournament First Round on Wednesday, February 28 beginning at 6 p.m.

Live stats and video will be available on msumdragons.com. 

Opening Tip

Quick Hits...MSUM claimed the lone meeting between the two schools earlier this season on January 26. The Dragons picked up a 75-62 win over the Warriors on the road. MSUM has won the previous two matchups dating back to last season. Prior to the 66-54 Dragon win over the Warriors on January 28, 2023, Winona State had won the previous four games against the Dragons dating back to January 3, 2020. The last time MSUM and Winona State met in the NSIC Tournament was on February 26, 2020, when the Warriors topped the Dragons 82-77 inside Nemzek Fieldhouse. 

First Round Dragons...MSUM enters Wednesday's tilt having lost their previous four first round NSIC Tournament games. In the last four years, MSUM has suffered first round setbacks to Winona State (2/26/20), Augustana (2/25/21), Southwest Minnesota State (2/23/22) and Concordia, St. Paul (2/22/23) with two of those losses coming inside Nemzek Fieldhouse. The last first round win for the Dragons in the conference tournament came on February 27, 2019, a 92-67 home win over Upper Iowa. That year's Dragons finished 27-7 and qualified for the NCAA Central Region Tournament. 

Coach Nelson At The NSIC Tournament...Head coach Karla Nelson has led MSUM into its 25th straight NSIC Tournament as the Dragons are the only program (men's or women's) in league history to qualify for every NSIC Tournament. Nelson will coach in her 41st NSIC Tournament game on Wednesday, the most in conference history (men's or women's), surpassing Northern State's Curt Frederickson.

Keep It Rolling...Natalie Jens continues to move up the MSUM all-time scoring list after the junior scored 22 points over two games last weekend. Heading into Wednesday's contest against the Warriors, Jens needs 21 points to secure 1,000 for her Dragon career. Jens would become the 27th player in MSUM women's basketball history to acheieve the career feat. Of the 26 student-athletes already on the 1,000 point list, 19 have come in Karla Nelson's tenure as Dragon head coach.

The Gus Bus Rides Again...Graduate student guard Ashley Gustavson has started to play her best basketball of the season for MSUM down the stretch. Gustavson turned in two more stellar performances this weekend against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. The North Mankato, Minn., native scored 12 points on Friday night against the Cougars in 16 minutes of action. She made three of five three-point field goals in the game. In Saturday's win over the Mustangs, Gustavson scored 11 points in 19 minutes of play, netting another two triples. Over the last four games, Gustavson is averaging 9.5 points and is shooting 44.4 percent from long distance in that span. 

Double-Double Terryn...Sophomore forward Terryn Johnson collected another double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds against Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. It is Johnson's seventh double-double of the year and her eighth game with 10 or more rebounds. 

The Maya Empire...Freshman forward Maya Metcalf turned in two sneaky good performances for MSUM this past weekend. Metcalf scored seven points against Sioux Falls on Friday, but was a key piece in MSUM's win over SMSU on Saturday. The frosh scored 11 points with seven rebounds and a perfect four of four mark from the field. This included two made three-pointers for the West Fargo, N.D., native. 

What They Do Well...Winona State does a wonderful job at forcing tough field goal attempts as they limit opponents to just a 39.1 percent success rate on attempts. That mark is the sixth-best in the NSIC this season. Guard Olivia Gamoke and forward Alex Dornfield lead the Warriors on offense, averaging nearly 19 points a game between them with Dornfield leading the way on the glass, pulling down 7.5 rebounds per game. Gamoke led the Warriors in scoring during the first meetup with the Dragons, netting 12 points.

Karla Nelson is in her 24th season as MSUM's head women's basketball coach. She is assisted by Allison Swenson and Dylan Schmit.