Women’s basketball tame the Huskies
The Minnesota State women’s basketball team welcomed themselves back home with a 71-47 win against St. Cloud State University Friday.
It was the Mavs’ first home game since their 69-48 victory over Northern State University Jan. 5.
It was hard to separate the two teams in the first half. The Mavs started the game with a 6-2 lead. Hannah Herzig got things going for the team with two layups. St. Cloud then responded with a 7-2 run to take a 9-8 lead. The Huskies went on to have a 12-9 lead, before a Emily Herzberg three-point shot tied the game, and started an 8-0 run by the Mavs to close out the first quarter with a 17-12 lead.
St. Cloud outscored the Mavs 15-13 in the second quarter. To end the quarter, the Huskies had a possession where they were able to corral five straight offensive rebounds, before Makenna Vanzant drained a three-pointer. After that chaotic sequence by the Huskies, the Mavs went into halftime with a 30-27 lead.
In the first half, MSU shot 32% from the field, 1-7 from three-point range and went 7-10 from the free throw line. The Huskies shot 30% from the field and went 3-15 from beyond the arc. They did not attempt a free throw in the first half.
The Mavs came flying out of the blocks in the second half. They turned the game on its head in the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter. During that stretch, they went on a 19-2 run. This included shooting 8-9 from the field and getting six steals. Natalie Bremer and Emily Russo played major roles in breaking the game open for the Mavs. Bremer scored eight points during their run, and Russo had three steals.
The Huskies could do little to stop MSU’s momentum the rest of the quarter, and managed to score only four points. It is the least amount of points the Mavs have held an opponent to in a quarter all season.
The Mavs went into the fourth quarter up 59-31. Bailey Conrad scored the first points of the quarter, two minutes into it by hitting a three-pointer. The Huskies went on to have a 10-4 run over three minutes and outscore the Mavs in the quarter 16-12. However, the damage was done in the third quarter.
MSU ended with a shooting percentage of 39.1% from the field, 29.4% from the three-point line and 75% on their free throws. They forced the Huskies to commit 24 turnovers. 18 of them were steals by the Mavs.
Bremer led the Mavs in scoring with 16 points. She also had seven rebounds and three steals. Herzig and Herzberg were the next highest scorers on the team, with 12 points each.
Next up for the Mavs is a trip to Duluth to take on the University of Minnesota Duluth Tuesday.
Header Photo: The Minnesota State women’s basketball team held the Huskies to just four points in the third quarter. It is the least amount of points in a quarter that the Mavs have held an opponent to this season. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu