Women’s basketball beat huskies thanks to 29-0 run
The Minnesota State women’s basketball team crushed Wayne State College 101-57 Friday.
The win improved their record to 20-4 and extended their winning-streak to 18 games.
Mavs forward Ava Stier opened the scoring with a layup. An Emily Herzberg three-pointer gave the Mavs a 7-2 lead with 8:13 remaining in the first quarter. With 5:37 left in the quarter, a pair of free throws by Maya Fitzpatrick to cut the Mavs’ lead to 13-7 would be the last points the Wildcats would score for ages.
The Mavericks proceeded to go on a 29-0 run during the rest of the first quarter and partly into the second quarter. The Mavs shot 12-21 from the field during that stretch, and went three for five from three-point range.
Natalie Bremer led the Mavs in scoring during their dominant run with eight points. Joey Batt and Mackenzie Schweim each contributed with six points during that stretch, while Destinee Bursch scored five.
Wildcats forward Britney Ho was finally able to get Wayne State back to scoring with a layup to get the score to 42-9.
MSU’s Taylor Theusch saw her first minutes of the season in the second quarter after missing 23 games due to injury and scored on her first attempt from the field.
“Seeing Taylor make her debut was honestly something special. She is such an important part of this team, and has such dedication. Seeing her push every day to get back to where she can step onto the court during a game was so impressive and very special,” Bremer said.
Schweim hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the half, and the Mavs went into halftime with a 61-21 lead.
In the first half, the Mavs shot 66% from the field, went six for 10 from three-point range and went five for six from the free throw line.
Their 61-point half against Wayne State is the fourth time they’ve scored 60 points in a half since 2007. The last time the Mavs scored 60 points in a half was in Nov. 2022, when they scored 66 points against Bethany Lutheran.
The third quarter started with a quick 6-0 Mav run thanks to Bursch, including two layups off of Wildcat turnovers. Hannah Herzig made two layups to put the Mavs up 73-29 with 3:31 left in the quarter. The quarter ended with the Mavs up 81-34.
MSU’s Bailey Conrad hit a three-pointer to give the Mavs a 90-40 lead with just over six minutes left in the game. Schweim hit a three of her own late in the game to add the final touches to a dominant wire-to-wire performance by the Mavs.
Focusing on what they do and not getting complacent was part of the mentality for the team during their massive run.
“During the 29-0 run, we knew that we couldn’t get complacent with where we were at. A lot of the games recently, we have focused on us and what we would like to continue to get better at, so during the game our coach was still pushing us to keep our foot on the gas and continue to do what we do,” Bremer said.
Bursch led the game in scoring with 22 points. She went nine for 11 from the field and had five assists. Batt and Bremer were the next highest-scorers for the Mavs with 14 points each.
The Mavericks ended the game 51% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc and went 12 for 16 on their free throws. The Mavs forced the Wildcats to commit 29 turnovers. 18 of those were steals.
Next up for the Mavs is a trip to Aberdeen, South Dakota to take on Northern State University Saturday.
Header Photo: The Mavs’ 29-0 run that started in the first quarter and went into the second, helped them score 60 points in a half for the first time since Nov. 2022. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu