MANKATO, Minn.   —   One game remains on the Minnesota State women’s basketball season as the Mavericks close out the regular-season portion of their schedule Saturday at 2 p.m., against Southwest Minnesota State.

Final Game at MSU: Saturday’s contest against SMSU marks the final home game for three Mavericks.  Junior Sarah Wiens joins seniors Laura Weber and Jennie Noreen in their final game played at the Taylor Center as Wiens will graduate prior to next year’s basketball season.

Week in Review: Minnesota State (16-9, 12-9 NSIC) went 1-1 last weekend receiving a 65-44 loss Friday night at home against Minnesota Duluth before responding positively with an 81-50 victory over the visiting Bemidji State Beavers.  UMD sprinted out to a 29-10 lead after a 16-0 run during the first half which the Mavericks were never fully able to recover from.  MSU shot just 25.0 percent from the floor while senior forward Laura Weber led the way with nine points and seven rebounds.  The Mavericks sought revenge the following night after suffering a last-second defeat earlier this season to the Beavers.  MSU connected on 13-of-27 (48.1 3FG%) three-pointers which is the most they have made since draining 12 against Upper Iowa on Jan. 8, 2010.  Freshman forward Jamie Bresnahan  added a game-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while also leading the Mavericks with eight rebounds. Weber finished with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds.  Weber paced the Mavericks with 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while Bresnahan was second on the team with 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.  Leading the team with three triples over the weekend was junior guard Sarah Wiens who added 6.5 points per game.  Senior guard Jennie Noreen added 4.5 assists per game while also stuffing the stat sheet with 6.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Upcoming Opponent: The Mavericks lone contest this weekend comes Saturday against the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs.  Sitting 6-19 overall, 5-16 in the NSIC, the Mustangs have lost 12 of their last 13 games as their last victory came on Feb. 17 in a 72-57 win over Bemidji State.  In their last outing, the Mustangs fell 59-53 at home to Minnesota Duluth.  MSU holds a 22-14 all-time record against the Mustangs including wins in the last nine meetings.  The last time SMSU defeated MSU was back in 2005 in a 74-61 contest.  Minnesota State won the first meeting between the schools earlier this season, 65-58, behind a 22-point, 13-rebound effort by Weber.  MSU maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half until SMSU’s Bree Holleman’s three pointer cut the lead to seven with 3:11 remaining.  The Mustangs late run would fall short, however, as Noreen scored from just outside the lane before Weber recorded her only block of the game on a shot attempt by SMSU’s Courtney McCarthy. Minnesota State would connect on 2-of-4 free throws in the game’s final 13 seconds which proved to be enough as the Mavericks came away with the victory.  The win marked the 100th in head coach Pam Gohl’s career and her 70th with the Mavericks.

Scouting the Mustangs: The Mustangs, coached by Allison Kruger, are led by Abby Kenealy who averages 14.0 points per game which is ninth-best in the NSIC.  Kenealy is shooting 43.0 percent from the floor and 73.0 percent from the free-throw line while adding 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.6 minutes per game.  Bree Holleman leads the team with 2.0 assists per game while she is also connecting on 39.7 percent from downtown.  Her 1.84 three pointers per game is seventh-best in the NSIC while she also leads the Mustangs with 30.6 minutes per game.  Southwest Minnesota State averages the least amount of points per game in the NSIC at 59.5 while allowing opponents 66.4 per game.  The Mustangs are connecting on 39.4 percent of their shot attempts while allowing opponents a 39.6 shooting percentage.

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