Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State Mavericks women's basketball team defeated the Bemidji State Beavers by a final score of 84-62 at the Taylor Center Saturday evening.

The Mavericks are now 13-9 overall and have a 10-8 conference record after winning both home games this weekend.  As for the Beavers, they're now 7-15 record and have a 4-14 conference record.

To get things rolling, sophomore Kristi Fett put the Mavericks on the board with a quick basket under the hoop on the team's first possession.  With MSU up 4-0, the Beavers made back-to-back threes to put them up 6-4.  With 6:33 remaining in the first quarter, BSU was up 10-5, but Fett closed the gap with another basket, scoring five of the Mavericks seven points.

At the first media timeout, the Beavers were up 10-9, but MSU defense wouldn't allow a BSU point for about the next four and a half minutes and forced three turnovers in that span. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks led 15-13. With 4:25 remaining in the second quarter, MSU led BSU 27-25 but the Beavers ended the first half on a 9-4 run, before junior Brooke Tonsfeldt stole the ball and made the layup as time expired. At the half, the Beavers led the Mavericks by a 36-34 score.

Fett was the leader on offense for Minnesota State, shooting 5-for-10 from the field and collected three rebounds with her 11 points. Sophomore Maddy Olson was the team's next leading scorer with six points on six attempts but did add two steals.

MSU shot 42.4 percent from the field and allowed the Beavers to go 46.4 percent. The Mavericks were unable to make a three-pointer in the first half after taking four attempts, however they did the bulk of their work getting baskets at the rim and at the line.

Fett once again got things rolling in the second half after the team corralled two offensive rebounds. Olson was fouled on a three-point shot going into the media timeout and put MSU up 52-43 with 4:55 remaining in the third quarter.

Minnesota State took control of things in the third quarter and gained their largest lead of the game by 16 points. With that, the Mavericks led the Beavers at the end of the third quarter by a score of 62-46 and outscored BSU 28-10.

MSU got out to a 73-53 lead with 5:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, after sophomore Rylee Menster stole the ball and eventually landed into the hands of Olson, who scored a layup.  Minnesota State continued to play well down the stretch and would go on to win things by a final score of 84-62.

The difference in this game was the Mavericks offense and defense. In the third quarter, MSU was able to get BSU to commit eight turnovers and on offense, they shot 47.1 percent compared to the Beavers 30.8.  Minnesota State shot 46.4 percent from the field for the duration of the game, but still struggled from distance, only shooting 20.0 percent.

Fett led the game with 22 points and seven rebounds. She shot efficiently as well, shooting 10-of-16 from the field. Olson was right behind her with 20points and she too shot efficiently, going 7-for-13 from the field.

The Mavericks will next play the Augustana Vikings on the road Friday night, with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Following that will be a game against Wayne State in Neb., with tip-off slated for 3:30 p.m