Photo Credit: Jordan Vredeveld

ST. PAUL, Minn. ---  The Minnesota State women's basketball team dismantled Concordia-St. Paul, 86-68, Saturday afternoon at Gangelhoff Center. 

Both teams opened the game cold from the field until the Golden Bears established a 8-2 advantage to force a Minnesota State time out. Coming out the time out, the Mavericks stole momentum with a 6-0 run to lock the game at eight after a Logan Anderson free throw with 4:30 on the clock. The teams then traded possessions and Minnesota State trailed after one quarter of play, 13-12. 

Concordia-St. Paul opened the second frame with a 5-0 run to take a 18-12 lead. The Mavericks retaliated with a 9-0 run of their own highlighted by a Claire Ziegler lay up and free throw at the 6:29 mark to take a 21-18 lead. Following the media time out, Britney Scherber buried a triple to increase the advantage to four, 26-22. The Mavericks kept their foot on gas growing a ten point, 32-22, edge after a Taylor Klug lay up with 3:06 to play in the half. Minnesota State out scored Concordia-St. Paul, 28-11, in the second quarter and led at the intermission, 40-24. 

The Mavericks stretched their advantage to 20, 53-33, after a Klug jumper with 5:00 to play in the quarter. Minnesota State continued to set the pace as it expanded the edge to 23, 62-39, after back-to-back made free throws from Ziegler. The Mavericks led the Golden Bears after three quarters, 66-46. 

Concordia-St. Paul fought back in the final quarter to draw within 19, 66-47, at the 9:04 mark. Minnesota State quickly built the lead back up to 23, 70-47, following a Mackenzie Dahl lay up. The Golden Bears then made a late push to cut the deficit down to 14, 72-58, with 4:52 to play. However, the Mavericks went on to close out the remaining minutes and pick up the 86-68 win. 

Minnesota State held the edge in rebounds (51-28) and assists (19-12). Additionally, MSU shot  51.6% from the field and the bench netted 35 points. 

Ziegler led the Mavericks posting her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Three additional Mavericks reached double digits in scoring: Klug (14), Scherber (12), and Muth (10). Freshman Rachel Shumski rounded out the top performers with a career-best 12 rebounds and added nine points. 

With the win, Minnesota State moves to 6-2 (3-2 NSIC) on the season. The Mavericks return to Taylor Center on Monday hosting Waldorf. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.