MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks, 74-63, in Taylor Center Saturday night.

Minnesota State started the game with pressure on defense forcing Upper Iowa into an early turnover which led to a wide open three-point make from Monica Muth who collected the first six points for the Mavericks.  The early offensive success for Minnesota State would continue as good ball movement gave them several open looks from the outside.  The Peacocks would fight back, forcing the Mavericks into a couple of straight empty possessions with their defense playing tighter on the outside shooters and hitting a key three at the end of the first quarter to give them a 19-17 lead over Minnesota State going into the second quarter.

Claire Ziegler came up with a steal followed by a turnaround lay up to start the second quarter and tie the game up early and on the next trip she hit a short jump shot to give the Mavericks a 21-19 lead.  The Peacocks were able to respond by aggressively attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line several times and held a 29-23 lead with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter.  With fifteen seconds remaining in the first half Muth and Ziegler executed a high pick and roll which resulted in Muth connecting on the layup to cut the Upper Iowa Lead to 30-31 going into the half.  The Mavericks shot 40% from the field compared to 33.3% from the Peacocks, but Upper Iowa converted on all eight of their first half free throw attempts which was the difference in the first half.

The scoring started out evenly with both teams trading baskets until Ziegler tied the game at 35 with a free throw with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter.  A pair of back-to-back driving baskets from Taylor Drost off the bench gave the Mavericks a 44-42 edge with 3:17 left in the third quarter.  Minnesota State was able to get to the basket twice more in the quarter, beating the Peacock's press defense to send the game into the fourth quarter with a 48-44 lead.  

The Mavericks started strong in the fourth quarter with a 10-4 stretch powered by eight points from Ziegler.  With the momentum generated by the early run the Minnesota State defense started to quickly transition missed shots into offense and pushed the game to a 64-53 Maverick lead with 4:36 remaining in the final frame.  Upper Iowa attempted to make a late push but were never able to get the game within eight points down the stretch and were forced to foul Minnesota State to extend the game.  The Mavericks were able to close out the remaining time and pick up a 74-63 win. 
 
Ziegler led Minnesota State  with a team-high 24 points and added 9 rebounds. Muth added career-high 19 points and seven rebounds. Drost also netted a career-high 14 points off the bench.  As a team, the Mavericks shot 42.2% from the field compared to 34% from Upper Iowa.  

With the win, Minnesota State moves to 5-2 (2-2 NSIC) on the season. The Mavericks return to floor on Dec. 17 at Concordia-St. Paul. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.