Northwestern at Dakota State

• PREVIEW
• BOXSCORE

Game Time... The Northwestern College women's basketball team makes their 2008-09 season debut this weekend as they play in the Tyson Tipoff Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Red Raiders will play against a pair of DAC schools in Dakota State on Friday afternoon and follow with a match-up against Mayville State on Saturday night. Tipoff for this afternoon's contest is slated at 4:00pm and live stats are available at the following site: Live Stats.  The complete tournament website is at the following link: Tournament Website.

Scouting Report... DSU: Like the Red Raiders, Dakota State will be making their season debut this weekend. The Lady T's lost six seniors and their head coach, Jeff Dittman, off of last year's squad that finished with a 21-11 record. Last season, DSU won its third consecutive DAC Championship and qualified for the national tournament for the third straight year. The Lady T's, ranked ninth in the final NAIA D-II poll, lost to Bethel (Ind.) in the quarterfinal round. Two seniors, Jessica Van Loy and Laura Tewes, earned All-American honors last season.

First year head coach Joe Reints is set to begin at DSU after spending the last three seasons at Lambuth College (Tenn.) where he led his team to the 2007 NAIA D-I Championship. He returns five players with varsity experience, led by Tricia Boldt and Megan Swecker. A 5-9 senior guard, Boldt shot 56% from the field and averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season. Swecker, a 5-8 sophomore guard, shot better than 50% from the field and scored 3.4 points per game. Carmyn Streitz, Kaitlyn Kramer and Alyssa Kirk also return for DSU. A 5-11 forward, Kramer scored 111 points last season while Kirk shot 40% from beyond the arc. Also in the mix will be five freshmen that Coach Reints brought in along with a pair of sophomores who played on the junior varsity last season.

Dakota State was picked to finish tied for seventh in the DAC preseason poll along with Valley City State.

Mayville State: The Comets and fourth year head coach Dennis Hutter have played twice already this season and come in with a 1-1 record. They lost to Lakehead College (Ont.), 100-94 but then defeated Brandon (Manitoba) 99-85, both games at the Mayville State Classic on Oct. 24-25. Mayville State was picked to finish sixth out of eight teams in the DAC preseason poll.

Coach Hutter's squad is coming off a 16-12 season in which they finished in fourth place (8-6) in DAC regular season but reached the postseason conference championship where they lost to Black Hills State, 75-65. All five starters graduated off last year's squad, including All-American Laura Big Crow and first team all-DAC guard Cassie Leraas.

Leading the list of returners are post players Lindsay Sannes and Ashleigh Trosen. Sannes, a 6-0 junior averaged 4.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season. Trosen, a 6-0 sophomore, averaged 2.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in 2008. In the back-court, Kelli Smart and Brean Stottler return for the Comets. Both players came off the bench last season and combined to average 2.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Four freshmen and a junior transfer will also be looked upon to contribute for coach Hutter's squad.

Last Time Out... Both Northwestern and Dakota State will be making their 2008-09 season debut. Mayville State split their match-ups against Lakehead University and Brandon College at the Mayville Classic. In its 100-94 loss to Lakehead, the Comets made 15-of-39 three point attempts (39%) and were led by junior transfer Alison Sonsteilie with 22 points (5/13 3pters). Kelli Smart chipped in 20 while Brean Stottler made six three pointers and netted 18 points. In their 99-85 win over Brandon, freshman Erin Ericson scored a game-high 21 points and Kelsey Adamsen chipped in 17.

The Series... Northwestern and Dakota State have played 26 times dating back to the 1979 season. DSU holds a 7-19 all-time advantage in the series but the Red Raiders have won the last five, including a 90-83 win in Madison, S.D. last year. In the only meeting between Mayville State and NWC, Coach Woudstra's squad came out on top, 85-62, in 2004-05 at the USF Classic.

Red Raider Notes... Coach Woudstra begins his 15th season as the head of the women's basketball program and is the all-time winningest coach with 252 wins. Last season, he led his team to a school record 35 wins and the program's second national championship. Northwestern graduated all five starters from that championship squad, including All-Americans Debbie Remmerde and Amy Larson. Remmerde, the NAIA D-II's all-time leading scorer, was named NAIA player-of-the-year and Coach Woudstra earned Coach of the Year honors.

Four letter winners return for coach Woudstra including junior post player Randa Hulstein and honorable mention all-GPAC sophomore, Becca Hurley. Both players, however, will not be available because of their fall sports commitments. Junior Andrea Wedel played in 24 games last season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.7 rebounds. Sophomore Kristin Neth scored 1.2 points and grabbed 1.2 rebounds in 24 games in 2007-08. Allison Hulst also returns after playing on the junior varsity team and several freshmen will be looked upon to contribute as well.

Next up...The Red Raiders will play in their home opener on Nov. 5 as they host Waldorf College.