Women’s basketball sweeps weekend, men’s falls short

Mel Stramm
Staff Writer

Last weekend, the Minnesota State Mavericks men and women’s basketball team played the Upper Iowa Peacocks on Feb. 21 and then the Winona State Warriors on Feb. 22. 

Unfortunately, the team lost both days in two hard fought games. The women however were able to come up on top, beating both teams in dominating fashion. 

On Friday, the men’s team was able to finish the first half with a 43-31 lead, with 13 points by senior Cameron Kirksey and 10 from freshman Corvon Seales. They also had the 25-11 advantage on rebounds entering the second half. 

Dominating the 3-point line, the Peacocks turned the lead around to 85-77 with 1:21 minutes left in the game. 

Senior Kevin Krieger then tried to cut the Upper Iowa lead short by scoring two more points for the Mavericks, however the Peacocks then responded with two points of their own, leading to the 89-81 Mavericks loss. 

MSU shot 50% from the field and out-rebounded the Peacocks, 44-26. Freshman Ryland Hold and Kirksey both finished the night with a double-double.

On Saturday, the Mavericks were looking strong early on and didn’t allow the Warriors to score for the first five minutes of the match. 

Minnesota State shot 48.4% from the field, compared to 28.6% from Winona State, while winning the rebound battle 27-14 in the first half, again entering halftime in the lead.

Krieger came through for the Mavericks, scoring 12 points in the first five minutes of the second half.

Unfortunately, MSU ended up falling short in the second half due to some strong 3-point shooting by the Warriors, leading to the 79-72 Maverick loss.

Kirksey finished the game with 30 points for the Mavericks, while Krieger finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Holt notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The women’s team had a phenomenal weekend, improving to 16-10 (13-9 NSIC) after the pair of wins. 

The Mavericks scored first on Friday, however, they were unable to shake the Peacocks lead until the second quarter, when sophomores Kristi Fett and Maddy Olson scored for MSU.

After that, the Mavericks were able to hold a steady lead, going into halftime, leaving the Peacocks trailing 41-27.

MSU extended their lead to 25 points, dominating the second half of the game. Junior

Tayla Stuttley finished the game with 16 points while junior Rachel Shumski added 11 and senior Taylor Drost added nine.  As a team, the Mavericks won the turnover battle 31-7.

On Saturday, MSU shot 50% from the floor, while limiting the Warriors to 31.1% and forced Winona State into 14 turnovers during the game for the 86-53 Mavericks Victory. 

The Mavericks defense did not allow Winona any chance in cutting into their lead, smoothly tallying up the points throughout the game. 

Drost led all players with 24 points, with seven rebounds and senior Kirstin Klitzke finished with 11 points. 

Both teams will move on to play the first round of the NSIC Tournament this Wednesday at the Taylor Center. Tip-off for the women’s game against University of Minnesota Crookston is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game against Bemidji State University at 7:30 p.m.

Header photo: Minnesota State guard Rylee Menster (20) dribbles the basketball during a game against Bemidji State University at the Taylor Center Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020 in Mankato, Minn. (Mansoor Ahmad/MSU Reporter)