Women’s basketball look to bounce back against Golden Eagles

The Minnesota State women’s basketball team is back in action to close out their regular season with home games against the University of Minnesota Crookston Friday and Bemidji State University Saturday. 

The Mavericks are coming off of their first loss since Nov. 21. Their 92-87 defeat to Northern State University also snapped their 19-game winning streak. 

The game against Northern State was a tightly contested affair to begin with, before a monster run by the Wolves saw them seize control of the game. 

A few minutes into the second quarter, the Wolves went on a 16-4 run. During that run, they went five for five from the field and went three for three from beyond the arc. Northern State’s Decontee Smith came up huge for the Wolves during this stretch as she scored eight of those points. 

The Wolves ended the game shooting 49% from the field. Something that the Mavs’ pride themselves on is their defense and creating turnovers for the opposition.  

Despite getting 17 steals and forcing Northern State to commit 24 turnovers, MSU’s Natalie Bremer said she thinks the Mavs allowing the Wolves to play comfortably helped lead to the loss. 

“During the game we needed to convert a lot better on offense. Making the easy finishes could have gave us a cushion early on. Along with that, defensively, getting and creating more havoc with steals and turnovers. They were playing very comfortable, and that allowed them to be able to get whatever they wanted,” Bremer said.  

Reminding themselves of what has worked on defense for them throughout most of the season has been a point of emphasis during practice since the defeat. 

“The team has had a good response to the loss at Northern. We acknowledge that it wasn’t our type of basketball that was shown in that game, and are ready to bounce back this weekend. We reminded ourselves of what works so well in our defense, and went back to that during practice this week. Our practices are very driven, intense and focused. But that is also how it has been the entire season,” Bremer said. 

Even with a 21-5 overall record and a 18-2 conference record, there is still a lot for the Mavs to prove. 

“We know that our basketball team still has so much to prove. We remind ourselves to stay hungry instead of being satisfied. It doesn’t matter who we play, we know that during the game we control what we can do to be the best versions of ourselves,” Bremer said. 

Minnesota Crookston is heading into this matchup after suffering a 67-52 defeat at the hands of Wayne State College. They are also on a 11-game losing streak. 

In their attempt to make it a 12th loss in a row for the Golden Eagles, the Mavs will try to make them take tough shots. 

“Going into the Friday game against Crookston, we want to get their key players uncomfortable, which was something that didn’t go too well against Northern. Making them make uncomfortable shots or take shots they aren’t used to taking will play right into our hands,” Bremer said. 

Taking away Minnesota Crookston’s two-person game is another thing that the Mavs will put emphasis on during Friday’s matchup. 

“Crookston is good at playing a two-person game with their point guard, who is a key player. Taking away this action will send them to try and create elsewhere,” Bremer said. 

Header Photo: The Minnesota State women’s basketball team will try to make things uncomfortable for Minnesota Crookston by making them take shots they are not used to. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)

Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu