Bemidji State women’s basketball captain Allison McKee is excited to lead her teammates out onto the court when the Beavers tackle Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul in a historic series at the Sanford Center, Jan. 16-17. While the 4,300-seat Sanford Center has been home to Beaver Hockey since the 2010 season, this series will mark the first time the building plays host to the basketball team.

“I am really excited about playing at the Sanford Center and I know the team is excited as well,” she said. “We love playing in the BSU Gymnasium, but the Sanford Center will be a great environment. It will be interesting to play there since we have only been there for hockey games.”

While the team is excited, moving to the Sanford Center will bring some unique challenges. The Sanford Center arena is significantly larger and more open than the intimate BSU Gymnasium, where the team has played for decades. However, the Beavers will have an opportunity to practice at the Sanford Center before taking the court to play, and McKee says the team’s routine won’t be significantly different from a typical home game.

“We will prepare the same way as we would if the games were here at the BSU Gymnasium,” she said. “But, we will work more on depth perception as that is different in a bigger arena. Getting to practice before the games will be nice so we can get the feel of it all and not be overwhelmed with the differences come game time.”

McKee, a redshirt junior from New Brighton, has bounced back from an injury which cost her the entire 2013-14 season and was a regular starter for Mike Curfman’s squad before another injury cost her three games in January. Now back in the lineup and expecting to see more minutes heading into the Sanford Center series, McKee has started 7 of her 12 games played and has contributed just over three points and four rebounds per game from her guard position.