Women’s basketball takes care of business at SMSU
The Minnesota State women’s basketball team was back in action with a 87-67 victory over Southwest Minnesota State University Friday.
The Mavericks win over the Mustangs extended their winning-streak to 16 games.
The Mavs took early control of the game with a dominant first quarter. Emily Herzberg got things started with a three-pointer at the top of key 15 seconds into the game. The Mavs scored 18 points off of 11 SMSU turnovers to give them a 27-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
After MSU ended the first quarter on a 15-3 run, the Mustangs started the second quarter like a house on fire to get themselves back into the game. SMSU went on a 14-2 run thanks in large part to the 11 points scored by Brie Stoltzman during their run. Stoltzman scored on her first six attempts from the field.
At the end of the Mustangs’ run, they had cut the lead to two points and the score was 29-27. MSU’s Natalie Bremer helped get things going again for the Mavs after a pull-up jumper. After a three-pointer by Stoltzman with 4:20 left in the second quarter, Herzberg’s corner three and Bremer’s reverse layup helped the Mavs go into halftime up 40-37.
The Mavs shot 48.7% from the field in the first half, and went two for eight from the three-point line.
The third quarter was where the Mavs were able to regain control, and pull away from the Mustangs. Early on in the quarter, MSU’s Hannah Herzig blocked Madison Gehloff from behind which led to a layup off the glass by Grace Mueller to extend the Mavs’ lead back to double digits. MSU outscored the Mustangs 28-13 in the third quarter to give them a 68-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Mavs also kept Stoltzman off the scoreboard for the entirety of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the box score was a lot more even in the points category. The Mavs outscored SMSU 19-17, but the damage was already done in the third quarter.
Bremer led the Mavs in scoring with 22 points. Destinee Bursch was the team’s second leading scorer with 20 points. Ava Stier scored five points and got 10 rebounds in her first start of the season.
As a team, the Mavs shot 51.3% from the field, and 28.6% from three-point range. They also outrebounded the Mustangs 39-29.
Head coach Emilee Thiesse was proud of the way her team bounced back after a difficult second quarter.
“Huge credit to SMSU for their run in the second quarter. They made some big shots and cut into our lead. We found a way to re-group in the second half as our defense started playing together. We created more steals that lead to transition buckets and opened it back up for us. I’m very proud of how our team responded tonight. We showed great resiliency and poise when we needed it most,” Thiesse said in a press release on the Maverick Athletics website.
Next up for the Mavs is a home game against Wayne State College Friday.
Header Photo: The Minnesota State women’s basketball team was able to regain control of the game in the third quarter after SMSU made a comeback in the second quarter Friday night. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu