Mankato, Minn. — The Minnesota State women's basketball team (3-0, 1-0 NSIC) traveled to St. Paul, Minn. to take on the Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball team (2-1, 0-1 NSIC) Tuesday evening in their first NSIC matchup of the year. The Mavericks dominant fourth quarter would push them to an 84-74 road conference victory.
The Mavericks were led by NSIC All-Conference selection Joey Batt who had a career night scoring 32 points, 9 rebounds (both a career high) and 2 assists leading all Mavericks in those categories. The Last time a Mavericks player had eclipsed the 30-point mark was Taylor Drost who netted 32 against Minnesota Crookston on February 8th, 2019. This is also Batt's third consecutive game with at least 15 points. Rylee Menster also played a big role in helping the Mavericks to victory as she amassed 12 points and 2 rebounds. Mikayla Nachazel would be the third Maverick to reach double digit scoring as she had 11 points and 7 rebounds.
It was a tightly contested first quarter as neither team was able to gain any separation on the scoreboard. The Mavericks pressure would increase and would start to force the Golden Bears into turnovers. The Mavericks would capitalize. They were trailing 18-9 as the Mavericks found an offensive spark from Emily Russo who had five points in a 10-0 run that propelled the Mavericks to a 19-18 lead. The Mavericks would continue to find an offensive rhythm as they surged ahead with an 8-0 run capped by a Taylor Theusch three pointer to put the Mavericks up 27-22 for their largest lead of the quarter. With the shot clock off, Batt would take the ball down the lane and finish with the euro step lay-up to end the quarter with a 29-25 lead.
In the second, the Mavericks offense would wane just a bit as the Golden Bears would start the quarter on a 7-0 run to regain the lead. Tayla Stuttley and Batt would keep the Mavericks in striking distance as they would score 10 of the Mavericks 12 points in the quarter. The Golden Bears would open the lead up to as much as 14 but, The Mavericks would show grit as they trimmed that down to nine as Batt would knock down another last second shot with a beautiful step-back three ball with five seconds remaining in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed 50-41 halfway through the contest.
As a team, the Mavericks shot 38.9% from the field, 40% from behind the arc and 78.6% from the charity stripe. The Golden Bears would hold a slight rebounding margin pulling in 23 to the Mavericks 21. The Mavericks did however lead the Golden Bears on the offensive glass 6-5.
The Mavericks offense would reignite in the beginning of the third as Stuttley would start a 10-4 run with a hard driving layup down the lane and would finish the run with a three ball to get the Mavericks within five with a score of 56-51. The Mavericks and Golden Bears would both score 15 points in the third. Batt would lead the Mavericks on her own with a 5-0 run to chip away at the lead. The Mavericks would trail by nine at the end of the third.
The Mavericks determination would shine bright to start the fourth as their defensive effort was rewarded on the offensive side of the court with a 10-0 explosion set off by a four-point play by Menster who knocked down a right wing three pointer and was fouled. Menster would finish the play, knocking down the free throw. This gave the Mavericks their first lead of the half 66-65. The Mavericks offensive onslaught would continue as they outscored the Golden bears 16-2 halfway through the fourth. It would be the Batt show the rest of the way as she continued her career night and put the final stamp on the victory, 84-74 Mavericks.
As a team, Mavericks shot nearly 40% in the contest and just over 41% from downtown. The Mavericks defense in the second half was stout. They ended the game with 13 steals and 31 points off turnovers to lead both teams in those categories.
The Mavericks will now head down to San Antonio, Texas as they will take part in the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic. On Friday, the Mavericks take on Texas A&M - Kingsville with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m., then on Saturday, they will play the host St. Mary's at 4:00 p.m., This is the first time the Mavericks have played either team.
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