The UMary Marauders are getting it done on the court, grabbing wins despite not having their preseason all-conference player for most of the year.

In Lexi Schnieder’s absence, head coach Rick Neumann has been thrilled with the depth his roster has provided, especially the rotating post position of sophomores Mo Hakim and Addison Rozell.

The Marauders are coming off of a season-best defensive performance, giving up just 39 points to Bemidji State. They’ll have to repeat that kind of play when they go on the road against the top teams in the division.

“That’s a big part of success in the Northern Sun,” says head coach Rick Neumann. “Finding some ways to steal some wins on the road because it’s really difficult to do. And when you know that your first shot defense is really good and you don’t give teams a lot of second shots, you can have some struggles on the offensive end and still find your ways to win.”

“I think that it’s a blessing to say that we play with so many talented girls,” says Guard Carly Kottsick. “Coach Neumann says he feels fully confident to put anyone in the game at any time knowing that they’ll showcase their talents and skills.”

Another huge part of the Marauders’ puzzle has been Megan Zander, who finally feels like she’s coming into her own, averaging 14.6 points per game, 12th best in the conference. Last season, the UND transfer and Mandan grad dealt with an illness that lingered, and never gave her the chance to play meaningful minutes down the stretch.

“It was really frustrating obviously not playing and then it was even more frustrating trying to get healthy because it takes a lot mentally and physically when you’re down that far,” says guard Megan Zander. “So I took a lot of time this summer, not necessarily working out but just getting my body healthy, then I slowly went back to workouts and then lift, so it was kind of a long process but it has seemed to pay off.”