Women’s NSIC playoff seed on the line

The Minnesota State Women’s Basketball team looks ahead to their last two regular season games. The Mavs host Winona State Thursday and go on the road to take on Upper Iowa Saturday, for the last game before the postseason. 

Both Winona State and Upper Iowa are toward the bottom of the NSIC. Winona State is currently on a five-game losing streak with a record of 10-16. They will be heavy underdogs as they have to travel to Mankato to play at the Taylor Center. Winona has a single road win on the season, losing their other 10. On the other hand, Mankato is stellar at home, in which they have only dropped one game at the Taylor Center with a home record of 10-1. 

Upper Iowa is now 10-15 after their Saturday win versus Sioux Falls. This was an overtime thriller where they got their first road-game win in the NSIC since Jan. 2017. That is 62 games lost on the road. Expect Upper Iowa to ride off that high and show up with something to prove for their last home game versus Mankato. 

Regardless of these teams’ records, Mankato will need to play their hardest. With Augustana just one game behind in the playoff race, they have their NSIC playoff seed on the line. They will also be playing for home court and two wins this weekend would secure that. They play with a “one game at a time” mindset according to Coach Emiliee Thiesse. They make sure to never overlook their opponents. 

“I’m feeling very good about our team,” said Thiesse. “Our strength of schedule makes us feel great, we are healthy and playing very well. That’s just about all you can ask for.”

The Mavs are coming off a road sweep versus Wayne State and Augustana. Their current record is  21-3 with a winning streak of seven games. These wins helped them climb the national ranks ever so slightly, as they moved from No.14 to No.13 among all other division two teams. 

MSU is one of two ranked teams in the NSIC. The other is Minnesota Duluth who gave the Mavericks their second-season loss. Minnesota Duluth is No.11 with a record of 22-3. There is a good chance that these two teams will come up with the No.1 seed in their divisions for the conference playoffs and have the potential to see each other in the championship. 

The Mavs are hosting Winona Thursday at 7:30 at the Taylor Center, in what could be their last home game of the season. After this weekend, the NSIC tournament schedule will be decided based on what top teams win and lose this weekend.

Write to Luke Jackson at Luke.Jackson.2@mnsu.edu

Header photo: MSU Women’s Basketball team aims for their eighth straight win as they play their final home game of the regular season against Winona State, today, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. (Dylan Long)