Last in action December 16 the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) women’s basketball team returns home this weekend for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) doubleheader against UMary and Minot State.

UMD enters 2024 with an 8-3 record. Winning their final game before break 65-37 over Winona State, the Bulldogs have since been focused on rest, and nailing down a more aggressive defense. Two of their only three losses came by less than 10 points.

As for UMary and Minot State, the Bulldogs haven’t lost to the Marauders at home since 2016, and are 16-4 all time against the Beavers.

“Overall, everybody on the floor has to be locked in and doing their best offensively,” UMD head coach Mandy Pearson said. “Offensively, they’ve got some shot blockers, so we’ll try to move them around a little bit so that we can create some space to get to the rim.”

“We want to use a lot of the shot clock. We want to make them have the toughest shot that they can get, and we pride ourselves in doing so and helping our teammates in the gaps. It’s really just a team defense for a full 30 seconds,” graduate guard Taytum Rhoades added.

UMD hosts UMary Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Minot State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Romano Gym.