UMD men’s and women’s basketball looking to bring energy as they face top NSIC teams at home

Posted by Admin February 1, 2025 Basketball

DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – The University of Minnesota Duluth men’s and women’s teams each have eight games remaining with all of them coming against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foes.

Both teams are coming off three straight road games, the men picked up the only win in all six games when they faced the University of Mary on Friday, Jan. 24.

Now, they are getting ready to face Concordia St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State who rank top-3 in the conference in both leagues.

Coming off those back-to-back losses the men’s team is dealing with multiple injuries which has forced players to step up, despite the losses head coach Justin Wieck is impressed but would like more consistency.

“It’s just putting 40 minutes together honestly. We’ve had some really good stretches,” said Wieck. “I think we’ve had the lead in all seven of our losses, right? So we’re close, there’s a ton of great opportunities available for us. We’re looking for our intensity to improve and some of the details defensively.”

The men will start the action at Romano Gymnasium against Concordia St. Paul at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.

As for the women they’ve dealt with growing pains throughout the season with a team that only sports on senior and a fifth-year transfer.

They’re coming off of three straight losses and with the team not living up to the standards this year head coach Mandy Pearson has still been impressed by their growth.

“They start out the year and everything is good because nobody knows them. Then all of a sudden they’re like ‘oh wait now they know my strengths’ and we’re seeing some of them kind of learn how to adjust which is a process,” said Pearson. “We’re seeing some growth in those areas and if they can just stick with the process and trust it hopefully we’ll be playing our best basketball in a couple weeks.”

Pearson and the women’s Bulldogs will cap off the day at Romano Gymnasium at 3 p.m. as they also face the Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Both teams face Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday, Feb. 5, those games will be broadcast on the MY9 Sports Network.

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