Box Score

Mankato, Minn.— In a defensive battle, Minnesota State found a way to beat Minnesota Duluth 49-29 on Saturday afternoon. The Mavericks climb up to sixth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings.

Fourteen seconds into the ball game the Mavericks were on the board as junior Laura Weber laid one in off the glass to give MSU a lead that would last the night. After that basket, both teams combined would shoot 1-of-16 over the next five minutes and shoot 12-of-55 in the half.

Minnesota State would pull ahead of UMD 11-2 at 12:40 with the help from guard’s Jennie Noreen and Kirstin Nelson, each connecting from downtown. During that run, the Bulldogs would shoot 1-of-11 and turn the ball over eight times.

MSU would hold UMD to only 9 points in the half, shooting 4-of-25 for 15 percent, which gave the Mavericks a 21-9 halftime lead. The Bulldogs had 18 turnovers in the half as Minnesota State would score 11 points off turnovers.

Noreen would lead the half in scoring as she had seven points and 16 points in the game. The Mavericks would shoot 17-of-57 on the day for 30 percent, as the Bulldogs would end the day shooting 12-of-52 for 23 percent.

MSU would extend its lead throughout the second half as  Weber worked the low post an put a lay-up away at 12:24 to give the Mavericks a 31-15 lead. Weber would finish with eight points, eight rebounds and five steals.

Even though Minnesota Duluth won the battle of the boards 44-36, the Mavericks forced 31 turnovers on UMD.

Senior guardAndrea Walsh would give Minnesota State its largest lead of 47-27 at 3:35 remaining, finishing with 11 points and four assists.

The 29 points UMD scored is the least scored on MSU since late November as the Mavericks beat Dakota State 85-47.

Minnesota State (10-7, 7-6 NSIC) completed a weekend sweep with the win 49-29 over UMD and 77-73 win over Bemidji State. The Mavericks will take on Winona State Friday at 6 p.m. inside the Taylor Center.

To listen to Coach Gohl postgame with Casey Lloyd, click HERE

To view the game stats, click HERE