NAIA Game of the Week
No. 9 Northwestern (Iowa) (15-5) at No. 2 Briar Cliff (Iowa) (19-3)
Wednesday, Sioux City, Iowa, 6 p.m. CST, Newman Flanagan Center
• For a second-straight week, the Game of the Week settles in western Iowa and features a pair of top-10 teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Both Briar Cliff (10-2 GPAC) and Northwestern (9-3 GPAC) are within two games of first-place Concordia (Neb.) in the league standings. Briar Cliff won the first meeting between these two teams, 76-69, at Northwestern on Nov. 16.
• Briar Cliff will enter play with wins in 10 of its last 11 contests. The Chargers were upset by unranked Mount Marty (S.D.), 73-67, on Jan. 4 but have since won four straight, including wins over then-No. 5 Morningside (Iowa), 97-84, on Jan. 7 and then-No. 19 Hastings (Neb.), 75-63, on Jan. 21. Briar Cliff is 5-2 this season versus ranked opponents and 8-0 at home.
• The Chargers lead the nation in assists per game (19.1) and scoring (85.5 points per game) and are second in steals per game (15.9) and in field goal percentage (.479). Briar Cliff has five players averaging at least 9.2 points per contest, led by senior guard Kylie Dilla’s 13.0 per game. Dilla also leads the team with 3.1 assists per game.
• Northwestern is playing in the Game of the Week for the second time in-a-row after losing a 76-74 GPAC thriller to then-No. 9 Morningside on Jan. 18. The Red Raiders had been riding an 11-game winning streak prior to the tight defeat. Northwestern is 3-5 against ranked opponents and 6-3 in true road contests.
• The Red Raiders rank second nationally in assists per game (18.8), third in field goal percentage (.469) and 10th in scoring (75.9 points per game). Northwestern is led by junior forward Kendra De Jong, who is fifth in the NAIA in field goal percentage (.567), 13th in points per game (19.1) and 27th in rebounds per game (8.3).

Around the Top 25
• The week of Jan. 16 – 22 featured only three matchups between Top 25 teams. In the NAIA Game of the Week, No. 9 Morningside (Iowa) squeaked out a pivotal road victory over No. 7 Northwestern (Iowa), 76-74, on Jan. 18. The Mustangs rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit led by a season high scoring outburst of 21 points by Shelby Beaudette.
• In other Top 25 action, No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan continued its roll by topping No. 25 Saint Francis (Ind.), 73-62, on Jan. 18. The Wildcats were led by star frontcourt player Krystal Stoneking’s 20 points and nine rebounds. In another key GPAC showdown, No. 2 Briar Cliff (Iowa) knocked off No. 19 Hastings (Neb.), 75-63, on Jan. 21. Megan Salcedo nailed 10 of 11 field goals on her way to 21 points for Briar Cliff.
• Top-25 squads posted a mark of 37-15 (.711) last week, while top-10 teams went 17-3 (.850). Between Jan. 18 and Jan. 21, 12 upsets occurred in which unranked squads got the best of Top 25 teams. Virginia Intermont, powered by NAIA Player of the Week Teonika Webb’s outputs of 23 and 37 points, respectively, defeated No. 19 Blufield (Va.) on Jan. 18 and No. 22 Montreat (N.C.) on Jan. 21. No. 8 Mount Mercy (Iowa) fell twice to unranked opponents, dropping games to Iowa Wesleyan and Viterbo (Wis.) during the week.
• The week of Jan. 23 – 29 showcases another three meetings between top-25 teams, including the Game of the Week. In other matchups of ranked squads, No. 10 Grand View (Iowa) topped now-No. 15 Mount Mercy, 65-61, on Monday and No. 18 Hastings will take on No. 9 Northwestern on Saturday.

National Statistical Notes
• A pair of teammates from St. Thomas (Fla.) reached the 1,000-point plateau in the span of roughly a week as seniors Maddie Cummings and Nickerline Montina surpassed the mark earlier this month. Cummings did so with a 3-pointer at Johnson & Wales (Fla.) on Jan. 6. Exactly a week later, Montina became a member of the 1,000-point club with a 19-point performance in a win over Webber International (Fla.).
• Jennifer Jorgenson of No. 10 Grand View (Iowa) leads the nation in scoring at a 23.2 per-game clip. Jorgenson has scored 20-or-more points in 16 of the Vikings’ 22 games and has yet to fail to record fewer than 11 points in a single game. The senior has amassed 1,722 career points and is averaging 20.7 points in 83 career games at Grand View.
• Davenport’s (Mich.) Karlee Despres holds the season single-game high with 43 points in a Nov. 11 loss to Olivet Nazarene (Ill.).
• Jessalyn Jackson of Northwest (Wash.) leads the NAIA in rebounds per game with 12.0 and blocks per game with 5.0. Corban’s (Ore.) Emily Tsugawa dishes out the most assists with 6.7 per contest, while Anna Jones of Iowa Wesleyan paces the NAIA with 4.1 steals per game.

Coaching Milestones
• Joanne Bracker of Midland (Neb.), now in her 42nd season as a head coach, holds the all-time record for NAIA women’s basketball coaching victories with 734. Her career coaching record now stands at 734-397 (.649).
• Sterling’s (Kan.) Lonnie Kruse is 25 wins away from becoming only the second NAIA women’s basketball coach with 700 career victories.
• Daemen’s (N.Y.) Dave Skolen picked up career victory No. 400 on Jan. 10 as No. 24 Daemen defeated Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) by a 58-54 score.
• George Wilson of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.) equaled win No. 400 in his coaching career on Jan. 21 as he coached his squad to a 74-71 victory over Haskell (Kan.).
• Indiana Southeast’s Robin Farris needs just one more win to also reach 400 career triumphs.
• Cornerstone’s (Mich.) Carla Fles is four victories away from No. 300.
• Reagan Rossi of College of Idaho will earn her 200th career win with three more victories.