Fayette, Iowa --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team defeated the Upper Iowa Peacocks in Fayette, Iowa on Saturday evening, 61-56.

With the win, the Mavericks improve their record to 8-16 overall and 7-13 in NSIC play.

MSU led by as much as 21 points midway through the third quarter over the Peacocks, before UIU made a run on MSU. The Peacocks trimmed their way back into the Mavericks lead to as much as three points with 18 seconds left to play. However that was the closest UIU got the MSU's lead as sophomore Madison Lee [Coon Rapids, Minn.] calmly drained two free-throws to seal the Mavericks road victory.

Junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] paced the Maverick offense in first quarter as she recorded eight of MSU's 16 points in the quarter. The Mavericks held a 16-12 lead over the Peacocks heading into the second. MSU's largest lead in the quarter came at the 2:59 mark, 16-9, as Scherber nailed one of her two three-pointers.

The Mavericks used an early second quarter run to pull away from the Peacocks. MSU began the quarter on a 9-0 run to extend its lead to, 25-12, with about five minutes remaining before halftime. Sophomore Claire Jordan [Green Bay, Wis.] tallied six of her eight first half points during the run. The Mavericks kept things rolling heading into the break as they held the Peacocks to just six points in the second. At halftime MSU led, 33-18, over UIU.

In the first half the Mavericks shot an efficient 50% from the field and sunk four 3-pointers, while the Peacocks were contained to 26% shooting from the field. MSU also built a sizeable rebounding advantage as it pulled 23 and UIU grabbed 12 rebounds.

Scherber led all scorers at the break with 14 points and shot 3-of-5 from distance. Jordan added eight points of her own and sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] did a little bit of everything with six points, six boards and three assists.

MSU built its lead even more in the third quarter to as much as 21 at the 5:54 mark with a 43-24 lead over UIU. However, the Peacocks made a run on the Mavericks to finish out the quarter, as UIU ended the quarter on a 13-5 run to cut into MSU's lead. At the end of three quarters, the Mavericks were leading 48-37 over the Peacocks.

To start the fourth quarter the Peacocks kept their momentum as they began the period on a 12-5 run which closed the Mavericks lead to just four, 53-49, with 3:01 left in the game. Shooting from the free-throw helped the Mavericks contain its lead late in the game though, as they shot 6-of-6 from the line in the last 1:22 of the contest.

MSU finished shooting 47% from the field and made six three-pointers, while UIU ended the game shooting 37% and sunk six three-pointers as well. The Mavericks ourebounded the Peacocks 36-28 and MSU shot 17-of-25 from the free-throw line, while UIU shot 6-of-9 from the line.

The Peacocks took advantage of the Mavericks 21 turnovers in the game as UIU scored 23 points off turnovers.

Scherber finished with a game-high 26 points, including five made three-pointers and also shot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Ziegler notched her fifth double-double of the season as she finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Next weekend will be the Mavericks final regular season weekend as they will play host to Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. MSU will first take on USF on Friday at 6:00 p.m., before squaring off with SMSU next Saturday at 4:00 p.m.