Box Score MANKATO, Minn. --- The No. 24 Minnesota State women's basketball team won its fourth-straight game as it downed Minot State 80-62, improving to 15-5 overall and 12-4 in NSIC action.
 
The Beavers were unable to solve the Maverick defense, as MSU forced 29 Minot State turnovers, marking the second-straight contest MSU has forced more than 28 turnovers. The Mavericks scored 37 points off of the Beaver mistakes.
 
The Beavers held a 7-2 lead three minutes into the game before the Mavericks rattled off an 18-2 run opening up a 24-13 lead midway through the opening frame. MSU led by as many as 20 points, 41-21 before MISU ended the half on a 10-3 run, giving MSU a 44-31 lead going into the intermission.
 
All 11 Mavericks that saw the court in the opening frame made their way into the scoring column, led by senior Karlee Gengenbacher (Quincy, Ill.) and freshman Tyra Johnson (Apple Valley, Minn.) who each netted seven first-half points.
 
MSU connected on 43% (15-35) of its shots from the field, 35% (7-20) from deep and 88% (7-8) from the stripe, MISU shot 50% (12-24) from the field, 38% (3-8) from behind the arc and 80% (4-5) from the charity stripe. The Mavericks forced 17 first-half Beaver turnovers, netting 22 points off of the MISU errors.
 
The Mavericks started the half on a 6-0 run and did not allow the Beavers to connect on a field goal for almost the first four minutes of the second half and opened up a 20 point lead, 61-41 with 13:40 to play. MISU was unable to solve the Maverick offense as MSU earned the 80-62 win.
 
Gengenbacher led the way with 15 points and was one of three Mavericks to reach double figures, she was joined by Johnson and senior Ali Wilkinson (Blue Mounds, Wis.) who finished with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
 
Collectively, the Mavericks connected on 43% (31-73) of their shots from the field, 31% (9-29) from behind the arc and 90% (9-10) from the charity stripe.  The Beavers connected on 43% (23-53) of their shots from the floor, 20% (3-15) from deep and 87% (13-15) from the line. MSU forced 29 Minot State turnovers, collecting 16 steals and scored 37 points from turnovers.
 
MSU hosts its final contests of the regular season next weekend as it welcomes Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls next Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 

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