DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team will host three games this week at the Reif Gymnasium, beginning with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Tuesday.
 
Where:
Reif Gymnasium – Burns Wellness Commons
 
When:
Tuesday vs. UW-River Falls – 7 p.m.
Friday vs. Northwestern – 5:30 p.m.
Saturday vs. North Central – 3 p.m.
 
Watch/Stats: http://www.csssaints.com/ssn
 
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 4-7, 1-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
 
The Saints enter this week winners in four of their last five games … CSS is coming off a 83-48 victory at Northland College on Saturday in the conference opener … The Saints shot a season-high 55 percent from the floor in the win ... Holly VanKempen (Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central HS) recorded the first double-double of the season for the Saints.
 
Hovick Closing in on 1,000: Senior guard Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) is eight points shy of becoming the 12^th CSS women's basketball player to eclipse 1,000 career points.
 
Making the Freebies: The Saints are the top free throw shooting team in the conference, making 72 percent of their attempts … The next closest team is Bethany Lutheran College at 68 percent … Kelsey Sorenson-Giffrow (Braham, Minn./Braham HS (Minn. Duluth)) leads all individuals at 89 percent (23-of-26) and Hovick is third at 85 percent (29-of-34).
 
Defense Wins: The Saints are only allowing 64 points per game, which is tops in the UMAC.
 
Series Histories:
-UW-River Falls leads CSS 18-9
-CSS leads Northwestern 42-34
-CSS leads North Central 23-1
 
Last Meetings: The Saints snapped a six-game losing streak to UW-River Falls with a 70-57 victory last season in River Falls … Northwestern defeated the Saints the 2014 UMAC Tournament semifinals 63-50 … The Saints swept the Rams last season by an average margin of 22 points.
 
UW-River Falls Falcons
The Falcons have an overall record of 5-9 … The Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak with a 80-79 over UW-Platteville on Saturday … Five of the team's nine losses have come by eight points or less … Kate Theisen leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game … Taylor Karge is averaging 10.3 points per game … Karge and Richell Mehus both lead the team, averaging 5.8 rebounds per contest.
 
University of Northwestern Eagles
Northwestern will enter Friday's contest with a 5-7 record … The Eagles are the defending UMAC Tournament champions and were picked to finish third in the conference, behind CSS, according to the preseason coaches' poll … Northwestern snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory at North Central on Saturday … Senior guard Chanel Madson leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game … The Eagles lead the conference in rebounds per game (45.7), blocks per game (4.8) and opponents field goal percentage (.346).
 
North Central University Rams
North Central plays at Macalester College on Monday before getting back to conference play this weekend … Junior Jamie High leads the conference with 15.8 points per game and 11.0 rebounds per contest … Freshman Lizzy Swanson is averaging 15.1 points per game, which is third in the conference … The Rams were picked to finish sixth in the conference.