Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team picked up win number one of the season, as the Mavericks took down #16 Michigan Tech, 77-73, on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Center.

With the win, MSU improves its overall record to 1-3 on the season.

After one quarter of play the Huskies led 20-11 over the Mavericks and extended their lead over MSU to 42-30 at halftime.

MSU's only lead of the first half was 7-6 at the 6:06 mark in the first quarter, before the Huskies started to gain control in the half.  With 3:48 left in the first quarter MSU was down just 10-9, before MTU finished out the quarter on a 10-2 run.

To begin the second quarter, the Huskies kept their momentum as they built the lead to 18, 35-17, with 6:17 left in the first half. That marked as MTU's largest lead of the half, while MSU cut into the Huskies lead before halftime. The Mavericks finished the half on a 6-0 run to cut the Huskies lead to 42-30 at the break.

In the half, the Huskies shot an impressive 52% from the field and nailed six (6-11) first half three-pointers. The Mavericks were held to a 33% field-goal percentage and tallied one (1-3) three-pointer in the first half. Each team recorded eight turnovers in the half and the Mavericks posted 18 total rebounds, while the Huskies notched one more with 19 rebounds.

Junior Sammie Delzotto [Eagan, Minn.] led MSU at the break with eight points and two boards, while sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] pitched in with seven points and three rebounds. Junior guard Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] also added six points in the first half.

It was a different story for the Mavericks in the second half, as MSU outscored the Huskies 25-12 in the third quarter to give the Purple and Gold a 55-54 lead heading into the fourth. The Mavericks forced nine Huskies turnovers in the third quarter and outrebounded MTU 12-6. With the rebounding advantage, the Mavericks outscored the Huskies 11-2 in second chance points.

In the fourth quarter it was a back and forth from both teams as no team had bigger than a four point lead in the quarter. At the 2:54 mark, MSU and MTU were all tied up at 68-68, before the Huskies managed to go on a small 5-1 run to give MTU a 73-69 advantage with 2:06 left in regulation. 

After a MSU timeout, the Mavericks responded with a 5-0 run of themselves to give MSU the lead once again at 74-73 with 1:06 left in the game. The Huskies never regained the lead from that point on as MSU won the contest 77-73 over MTU.

The Mavericks finished the game with a 41% field-goal percentage, while the Huskies ended the game with a 48% field-goal percentage, including 11 (11-21) made three pointers.

MSU owned the boards in the game as they outrebounded the Huskies 39-29 in the game and 21-10 in the second half alone. MSU finished with a 18-2 advantage in the second chance points and also posted a big advantage from the free-throw line. The Mavericks shot 25-34 from the line, while the Huskies went to the charity stripe only six times in the game.

The Mavericks were led by Scherber as she finished with a game-high 24 points in the contest, including 18 second half points. Scherber connected on 50% of her shots from the field, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Ziegler ended the game with a 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while Delzotto finished with 10 points, three boards and three steals. Off the bench, sophomore Claire Jordan [Green Bay, Wis.] added 10 points and six boards, while junior Karina Schroeder [Lake Crystal, Minn.] chipped in with seven points, three steals and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Mavericks will open conference play next weekend, as they will travel to Augustana and Wayne State. MSU will take on Augie at Friday at 6:00 p.m. and WSC next Saturday at 4:00 p.m.