Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team took down Concordia-St. Paul in a high scoring affair, 92-87, on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Center. 

Sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] and junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] led the way for the Mavericks, as Ziegler set new career-high's in the win with 29 points and 13 rebounds. She also shot 12-of-14 (86%) from the field, while Scherber finished one point shy of tying her career-high in the game with 26 points. The junior point guard connected on 4-of-6 of her three-point attempts and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe in the game.

After the first quarter of play the Mavericks led 21-17 over the Golden Bears. MSU used an efficient 48% field-goal percentage in the first quarter, while CU was held to 29% from the field. The Mavericks were also able to outrebound the Golden Bears 16-11 on the glass and dished out six assists on their 10 made field goals.

Ziegler led the MSU offense in the first quarter as she scored eight of the Mavericks first 10 points in the game. Sophomore Madison Lee [Coon Rapids, Minn.] added five points and two rebounds, while senior center McKenzie Hoelmenn [Lakeville, Minn.] tallied four points and four rebounds.

The second quarter saw four lead changes between the two teams as the Golden Bears held their largest lead in the first half at the 4:16 mark with a 30-24 lead over the Mavericks. MSU was able to trim into CU's lead and finished out the quarter on a 21-4 run to give the Mavericks a 45-34 lead over the Golden Bears at halftime.

Ziegler added eight more points in the quarter along with five rebounds, while Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] recorded 11 points in the quarter, including three three-pointers.

In the third quarter the Mavericks held on to their double-digit through the majority of the quarter as they went into the fourth with a 68-55 lead over the Golden Bears.

In the final quarter of action MSU built its largest lead of the game at the 7:01 mark in the fourth with 83-61 lead. However the Golden Bears did not go away quietly, from that point on CU managed to go a on 26-7 run as it trimmed MSU's lead to three, 90-87, with eight seconds left in the ball game. That was the closest CU got to the lead, as Ziegler closed the door after sinking down two free-throws to give the Mavericks a 92-87 win over the Golden Bears. 

Overall, the Mavericks shot 45% from the field and 40% (10-25) from beyond the arc, while the Golden Bears ended the game with a 42% field-goal percentage and 30% from three. MSU turned the ball over 18 times in the contest, while CU coughed the ball up just six times. The Golden Bears ended up outscoring the Mavericks 15-0 in points off turnovers.

MSU dominated the boards all game as they pulled down 57 rebounds in the win, while CU grabbed 35 boards. The Mavericks also got to the free throw line much more often than the Golden Bears, as MSU connected on 20-of-28 of its attempts while CU shot 6-of-9 from the line.
Two other Mavericks finished the game in double-digits, as Lee tallied 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Hoelmenn ended the game with her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. 

With the win, MSU improves it overall record to 3-6 and 2-3 in NSIC play.

The Mavericks have next week off and will return to action on Jan. 2, as they will take on St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.