Box Score Warrensburg, Mo. --- The No. 23 Minnesota State women's basketball began the season with a tough test as it battled hard against fellow top-25 opponent, No. 8 Central Missouri, on Saturday evening. The Mavericks fell by a final score of 96-88.

The Mavericks got off to a bit of a slow start in the first half trailing for the majority by double-digits. MSU trailed by a score of 42-28
with 5:54 remaining in the first half before sparking a 17-6 run to close the gap to 48-45 at halftime.

Junior guard Aubrey Davis (Bloomington, Minn.) led the way for the Mavericks in the first half with 11 points, while senior Karlee Gengenbacher (Quincy, Ill.) contributed 8 points. MSU held the edge in shooting, going 48% from the floor in the first half, while connecting on 4-8 from behind the arc.

At the beginning of the second half the Mavericks picked up where they left off at the end of the first, claiming their only lead of the game by a score of 55-54 with 14:47 left to play in the contest. The back and forth play continued until Central Missouri pulled away late make the final score 96-88.

The Mavericks had an extremely balanced attack with six players scoring in double figures. Davis finished the game with 20 points, while five other Mavericks were each able to contribute 12 points each. Central Missouri was led by a duo of seniors Keuna Flax and BreAnna Lewis who scored 30 points and 20 points respectively.

The Mavericks will return to the floor at home to face Buena Vista on Tuesday night at Taylor Center. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.