Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Bri Stoltzman drives toward the basket from the top of the key during the first half of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference womens basketball game against Northern State on Friday at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Heading into its first two-game road trip of 2025, the No. 23 Southwest Minnesota State womens basketball team will look to turn up the pace when it takes on Bemidji State and St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

Heading into the weekend, SMSU is tied with No. 22 Concordia-St. Paul for second in the NSIC with a 10-2 conference record, trailing only Minnesota State’s 12-0 mark. St. Cloud State is still within striking distance of the Mustangs, sitting in fifth at 7-5, while Bemidji State is 14th out of 15 teams at 2-10.

So far this season, SMSU’s calling card has been its prolific offense. After averaging 75 points per game last season, the Mustangs have ratcheted up the pace to average 84.6 points per game this season. The mark would have ranked first in the conference last year and trails only No. 6 Minnesota State’s 89.5 points per game this season.

So far this season, that’s not a pace that St. Cloud State or Bemidji have been able to maintain. St. Cloud ranks sixth in the NSIC at 68.6 points per game while Bemidji State’s 60.2 points per game rank dead last.

Bri Stoltzman has been among the driving forces of SMSU’s offensive firepower to date. In a win over Northern State on Friday, Stoltzman scored 41 points to become the first Mustang since 2004 to eclipse the 40-point mark. She followed up with a 22-point outing with five assists against UMary a day later. Her 18.8 points per game now rank third in the conference behind Minnesota Crookston’s Emma Miller’s 21.6 and Minnesota State’s Natalie Bremer’s 20.6.

The weekend outings earned Stoltzman her second consecutive NSIC Player of the Week selection (her fourth of the season and the fifth of her career). It also earned Stoltzman the first Division II National Player of the Week selection in program history, as voted on by the Womens Basketball Coaches Association/Division II Conference Information Directors Association.

SMSU opens the weekend on Friday against Bemidji State, a team that they’ve beaten three times in a row and six of the teams’ last seven meetings.

The Beavers don’t have a single player ranking top 20 in the conference in points or rebounds per game, while only Erin Barrette’s 2.6 assists per game crack the leaderboard in the passing stats, ranking 13th.

While Bemidji lacks volume scorers, they have found some efficiency. Tieryn Plasch, the team’s leading scorer with 9.6 points per game, leads the NSIC in 3-point percentage at 43.9%. Her 2.25 makes per game from beyond the arc also put her fourth in the NSIC, just behind SMSU’s Peyton Blandin with 2.33 3-pointers per game on a 37.8% clip.

Even beyond volume, however, SMSU maintains the efficiency advantage. Stoltzman’s 56.1% field goal percentage leads the NSIC while Audrey Swanson’s 47.5% and Blandin’s 48.2% clips rank fourth and fifth. Swanson’s 13.8 points per game and Blandin’s 16.2 also rank 10th and sixth in the NSIC respectively.

Among the key areas in which Bemidji State has struggled so far is turning the ball over. Their minus-.344 turnover margin is last in the NSIC while SMSU’s minus-0.5 mark ranks sixth. Only two teams have a margin of more than plus-1 in the conference (Minnesota State at 9.00 and Concordia-St. Paul at 3.33).

Stoltzman has helped SMSU work its way into the middle of the pack in the turnover category, ranking seventh in the NSIC with 1.8 steals per game. Still, Natalie Nielsen has continued to be the Mustangs’ defensive anchor with 1.7 blocks per game, good for third in the conference. Bemidji State’s Ella Gioergi also ranks seventh with 1.1 blocks per game.

As a unit, SMSU’s 65.9 points allowed per game rank fourth in the NSIC while Bemidji State’s 69.8 rank 10th. The Mustangs’ Saturday opponent, however, keeps things much closer. St. Cloud State’s 66.5 points per game sit just one slot behind SMSU in the rankings.

The Huskies have a pair of quality rim protectors with Paige Lambe’s 1.3 blocks per game and Alana Zarneke’s 0.8 both ranking top-12 in the conference. Zarneke’s 1.6 steals also rank 11th in the NSIC.

Still, much of St. Cloud State’s ability to limit opponent points per game comes down to pace. Their turnover margin of minus-0.59 ranks seventh and their opponent field goal percentages are toward the back of the back, with their 42.4% field goal percentage allowed ranking 13th and their 32.8% 3-point percentage allowed ranking 11th.

SMSU, meanwhile, has been the best in the conference at limiting opponents’ 3-point looks, allowing just a 24.5% clip from beyond the arc. The Mustangs’ 37.9% overall field goal percentage allowed also ranks second only to Concordia-St. Paul’s 36.4%.

On the offensive end, St. Cloud State has been led by Jada Eggebrecht and Zarneke. Eggebrecht leads the team with 13.5 points per game while Zarneke scored another 11.6. Each has also made 30 shots from beyond the arc, tied for 10th-most in the NSIC, on 39.5% for Zarneke and 36.6% for Eggebrecht.

SMSU has split its pair of matchups against St. Cloud State each of the last two seasons. Prior to that, however, St. Cloud State had stacked up 15 consecutive wins over the Mustangs.

Friday’s game against Bemidji State is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. while Saturday’s against St. Cloud is slated for 5:30 p.m. A radio broadcast of the game can be found at 105.1 FM KARL while live stats and video are available online at SMSUmustangs.com