North Dakota (10-6, 2-2 Big Sky) at Northern Colorado (8-7, 2-2)
DATE: Thursday, Jan. 17, 2015 | 3:00 p.m. CT
SITE: Greeley, Colo. (Bank of Colorado Arena)
RADIO:  KSNR 100.3 FM
WEB AUDIO: UNDsports.com
WEB VIDEO: WatchBigSky.com
LIVE STATS: UNCBears.com
TWITTER: @UNDWBasketball

ON TAP
North Dakota looks to shake loose from a two-game slide when it heads to Northern Colorado Saturday in the lone action of the week. UND then returns home to host Idaho and Eastern Washington, on Jan. 22 and 24, respectively.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST THE BEARS
North Dakota has a commanding 33-4 edge in the all-time series with UNC, including a pair of wins last season in a two-week span. UND holds a 14-3 advantage over Northern Colorado in Greeley.

DOIN' IT AND DOIN' IT AND DOING IT WELL
Mia Loyd now has a team-best 11 double-doubles, including eight of the last nine. She leads the team in both scoring (16.8 ppg), fourth in the Big Sky Conference, and rebounding (10.4 rpg), tops in the league. She is tied for fifth in all of NCAA Division I with her 11 double-doubles on the season.

MIA-VILLE STATE?
More reliable than Halley's Comet which comes but once every 76 years, Mia Loyd shows up for the Comets every season. She has both her career high in points (28 on Dec. 16) and rebounds (22 last season) against Mayville State. For her two career games, she averages a ridiculous 23.5 points and 18.5 rebounds per game against MSU.
52 goes 5-for-5
Emily Thompson hasn't had to knock off much rust moving to the basketball court from the volleyball court. The junior started the season on UND's volleyball squad and joined the hoops team just before the season started. She's played in four games, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor (all vs. Mayville State Dec. 16) and 5-for-5 from the free throw line (all vs. Dickinson State Dec. 2).

REPRESENTING
Three different UND players are above 80 percent free throw shooting this season (at least 10 attempts) with a pair above the 90 percent plateau. Senior Megan Lauck (29-of-31, .935) and freshman Bailey Strand (30-of-33, .909) have each missed just two all season. Sophomore Makailah Dyer is at .829, 58-of-70. Lauck is a perfect 9-for-9 in Big Sky Conference games.

DOUBLE DUO
Emily Evers and Mia Loyd are EACH averaging a double-double so far this season. Loyd has 11 double-doubles and Evers has five this season. The duo have combined for 28.9 points and 20.4 rebounds per contest thus far and two of only three players in the Big Sky Conference to average a double-double this season. The pair are one (Loyd- 10.4 rpg) and two (Evers- 10.0 rpg) in rebounding in the league.

ON THE MARK
North Dakota is the top shooting team-- in terms of percentage-- in the Big Sky Conference, with a .455 field goal percentage, topping nearest competitors Eastern Washington (.433) and Montana State (.432).

HELPING HAND
North Dakota tops the Big Sky Conference with a 16.9 assists per game average at the week's beginning. UND is 21st in NCAA Division I in this category going into the week.

YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE!
In the official NCAA RPI rankings released Jan. 13 North Dakota sits at 137 as the third-highest amongst Big Sky Conference teams. Eastern Washington sits atop the league at 121 while Idaho is next in the league at 130. This week's opponent, Northern Colorado, is ranked 199.

STRAND MAKES FIRST CAREER START
Freshman Bailey Strand, fresh off a career high 16 points at Sacramento State on Jan. 8, made her first career start two days later at Portland State. In that Jan. 8 game, Strand made 9-of-10 free throws (both career bests) to go along with a three-pointer and a pair of two-point buckets.

SWAT TEAM
North Dakota piled up 11 blocked shots as a team in the win at North Dakota State Dec. 6, the most in a single game by UND in its D-1 era.

GET THAT OUTTA HERE
Senior Emily Evers rejected a half-dozen shots in the first half alone in the win at North Dakota State (Dec. 6). That helped her set a new career high for blocks in a game, finishing with seven.

ARE YOU SIRI-OUS?
Senior Siri Burck was an unreal 7-for-7 from the floor in the win over St. Francis Brooklyn Nov. 21, including a pair of threes. She finished the night with a career-best 18 points, doubling her previous high.

E-MONEY MAKES IT THREE
Senior Emily Evers was named the co-Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Dec. 9 after her performance in wins over Dickinson State and NDSU. The Grand Forks, N.D., native needed just 18 minutes to pile up 17 points, 12 rebounds a pair of blocks in a Tuesday win against Dickinson State, then collected a career-best seven blocks to complement a 15-point, 13-rebound night Saturday at NDSU. She also added two steals and two assists in the road win at North Dakota State. She was the third straight UND winner of that award (Mia Loyd-2).

SHUT EM DOWN
UND allowed just 40 points to Dickinson State Dec. 2, including 13 second-half points. That 40-point total was the lowest opponent output in the Coach Brewster era and the fewest points given up since UND held Houston Baptist to 36 in a road win (Feb. 25, 2012).

TOP OF THE SUMMIT
The Dec. 21 loss at South Dakota was UND's first-ever against a Summit League team since transitioning to Division I status in 2008-09. North Dakota's record is now 7-1 all-time against that conference.

11/25/11    vs. Southern Utah*        W, 62-61
11/30/12    at North Dakota St.        W, 73-63
11/17/13    South Dakota        W, 65-61
12/14/13    North Dakota St.         W, 88-83
11/26/14    at Omaha        W, 72-52
11/29/14    at Western Ill.        W, 85-77
12/6/14    at North Dakota St.              W, 90-87 (ot)
12/21/14    at South Dakota                 L, 81-86
*now in the Big Sky Conference

LOYD EARNS BIG SKY HONORS
Mia Loyd was named the co-Big Sky Conference Player of the Week Nov. 26 for her efforts in UND's 3-0 week. Loyd scored 20 in the comeback win Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, had a double-double (15 pts, 10 reb.) in the Friday win vs. St Francis Brooklyn and scored a huge putback bucket in the final minutes of the win at Towson Saturday (6 pts, 11 rebounds). It marked the second Big Sky Player of the Week honor in her career.

OOPS, SHE DID IT AGAIN
Loyd earned a second straight Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 21.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in road wins over Omaha and Western Illinois. She had 16 second-half points in the win over the Leathernecks, recording her third double-double of the season.

LOYD SHOULDERS LOAD IN SECOND HALF COMEBACK
Junior Mia Loyd scored just two points in the first half in a win Nov. 18 vs. Milwaukee. But, she put the team on her back midway through the second half, scoring 18 points after the break as UND wiped out an 18-point halftime deficit. Loyd finished the night 9-of-12 from the floor with seven rebounds.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK...
North Dakota trailed by as many as 20 in the Nov. 18 win over Milwaukee. The Panthers shot a nutty 13-of-15 from three-point range in the first half to mount a 45-25 lead with two minutes left before the break.  UND would go on to win 83-76. Three days later, North Dakota sputtered out of the gate to spot St. Francis Brooklyn a 20-3 lead. UND would immediately wipe out that deficit to lead at the half and win 70-63.

ROAD WARRIORS
UND's pre-conference schedule took the team to seven different states in three different time zones. The season opener at Colorado tipped off the Preseason WNIT and it would later finish at Towson University (Maryland). The team also found itself in Nebraska (Omaha), Illinois (Western Illinois), North Dakota (NDSU), South Carolina (Clemson) and South Dakota (USD).

COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS HANDS OUT ACCOLADES
The independent website CollegeSportsMadness.com named junior Mia Loyd to its Preseason All-Big Sky First Team. Also included in the honors for North Dakota were Big Sky Preseason Coach of the Year Travis Brewster and Freshman of the Year Bailey Strand. Loyd also made the All-Mid Major fourth team, according to the website.

QUICK JUMPERS
*North Dakota returns 12 letterwinners from last season's championship team.
*Junior Mia Loyd was the Big Sky Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player last season and was an All-Big Sky Second Teamer. She led the league in rebounding as a sophomore (9.0 rpg).
*Senior Emily Evers was the Big Sky Sixth Woman of the Year last season. She returns to the starting lineup this year.
*Junior Kelsey Knox was named the league's newcomer of the year last season.
*Senior Megan Lauck is back from a season-ending knee injury that cost her all but the first seven games last season.

BIG SKY AT PRESEASON WNIT
UND is the fifth Big Sky Conference team to be invited to participate in the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament all-time(since the tourney's inception in 1994). Here is a look at who else has represented the league in this tournament:
2014- North Dakota
2009- Northern Colorado
2006- Idaho State
2005- Eastern Washington
2002- Northern Arizona

NORTH DAKOTA HOARDS ALL-BIG SKY AWARDS
The All-Big Sky Conference teams had a heavy North Dakota feel. Four different UND players were recognized Monday with senior Madi Buck highlighting the group as the Big Sky Player of the Year and only unanimous All-First Team selection. Sophomore Mia Loyd was named to the second team while junior Emily Evers tallied co-sixth woman of the year and sophomore Kelsey Knox collected top newcomer honors.

BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
In just its second season in the Big Sky Conference, the University of North Dakota claimed the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament by virtue of its 72-55 win over Montana at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in the Big Sky Championship game. Sophomore Mia Loyd was named the tourney's Most Valuable Player after a 10-point, seven-rebound effort.

BLOCK PARTY
Senior Emily Evers went bonkers Dec. 6th in a win at NDSU, swatting away a career-high seven shots, including six in the first half alone, to give her 150 for her career. She has since moved into sixth place all-time at the University of North Dakota.

Career blocks (since 1982)
1. Jenny Crouse    494
2. Sandi Walford    187
3. Allyssa Wall    186
4. Kierah Kimbrough    181
5. Sheri Kleinsasser    175
6. Emily Evers     157
 
RECORD REWIND
The University of North Dakota women's basketball program holds an 847-343 (.712) record all-time since the first game was played in 1974.

HOME COOKIN'
All-time, North Dakota is 465-95 (.830) when it comes to defending its own court. The team played at the  UND Fieldhouse/Hyslop Sports Center before moving into its current home at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in 2004-05.

YOU BETTY-CHA!
North Dakota is 130-26 (.831) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004-05 season.
 
Season records at 'The Betty'
2004-05 -------------------- 13-2
2005-06 -------------------- 19-1
2006-07 -------------------- 17-2
2007-08 -------------------- 14-1
2008-09 -------------------- 13-0
2009-10 -------------------- 8-4
2010-11 -------------------- 9-5
2011-12 -------------------- 10-3
2012-13 -------------------- 8-6
2013-14 -------------------- 15-1
2014-15 -------------------- 5-1

A BIT ABOUT LAST SEASON (22-10, 15-5)
North Dakota went 22-9 in the regular season, including a 15-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference ... That league mark tied Southern Utah for the best mark in the conference, earning them a share of the regular season crown and the top seed in the postseason tournament ... UND hosted the league tourney, mowing through Idaho State (78-53) and Montana (72-55) en route to the title ...  North Dakota did not trail at any point in the entire tournament ... Second-year head coach Travis Brewster was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year ... Madi Buck was the league's player of the year and was an all-region selection and an honorable mention all-America honoree (WBCA) ... Kelsey Knox was the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year ... Emily Evers picked-up the Sixth Woman of the Year by the Big Sky, her second career award with that distinction (2012, Great West) ... Mia Loyd led the league in rebounding at 9.0 rpg and was an all-league second teamer ... Loyd was the league tournament's most valuable player ... Loyd collected 22 rebounds, the second-most in UND history in a Dec. 18 win over Mayville State.

HOW TO FOLLOW?
You can follow UND women's basketball on twitter @UNDWbasketball for in-game scores, notes and links live stats and how to watch.

FOLLOW UND ON MOBILE
Take North Dakota women's basketball with you wherever you go with UNDsports.com's mobile app. Download it to your computer or your smart phone for free and follow your team wherever they go.

UND TOPS BIG SKY PRESEASON POLLS
North Dakota was the overwhelming favorite to repeat as champions of the Big Sky Conference by both the league's coaches and the media in the preseason polls. The coaches gave UND seven top nods while eight media voters had North Dakota the top selection in their prognostications and Montana running second in both polls. North Dakota was picked eighth by its fellow coaches and ninth by the media that cover the league last season.

WATCH BIG SKY
Catch every Big Sky Conference school in action live for free on the Internet at WatchBigSky.com. Home games from every league school are shown live and are available via archives on the WatchBigSky app. Download the app on Google Play or the iTunes store.
 
CAN I GET A WIGNESS FROM THE CONGREGATION?
UND women's basketball games can be heard live on KSNR 100.3 FM (or KKXL 1440-AM for select games) in Grand Forks. Cat Country is the home for UND basketball. Mitch Wigness returns for his third season behind the mic providing the play-by-play with Paul Ralston assisting and Madi Buck adding analysis for select home games.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT SHINES AS UND GETS HISTORIC TV COVERAGE
Midco Sport Network will produce five home women's basketball games as well as the away contest at South Dakota on Dec. 21. Dan Hammer returns as the play-by-play voice for UND home games, while Greg Stemen joins him as analyst.

FSN or FSN Plus will air an additional two women's basketball games, produced by UND Athletics staff, professional freelancers and UND students. UND Athletics' Video Production Coordinator David Folske will serve as producer while Director of New Media Matt Schill will direct the games. Associate Athletic Director for External Operations Kyle Doperalski will call the play-by-play with broadcast veteran Al Bahe providing the color analysis.