Mankato, Minn. — The Minnesota State women's basketball team (10-0, 6-0 NSIC) returned home to Taylor Center for a Friday night NSIC showdown against the University of Sioux Falls women's basketball team (8-4, 4-2 NSIC). The Mavericks held off a late charge from the Cougars and battled down the final stretch to remain perfect on the season with a 73-64 win.
The Mavericks had five players reach double digits in scoring. They were led in the column by sophomore guard Joey Batt as she tallied 16 points, five steals and four rebounds in the contest. Her five steals were also the team high. Rylee Menster and Mikayla Nachazel both tied for the game high in rebounds with nine. They added 12 and 10-points, respectively.
The Mavericks in the first had all they could handle as the Cougars found their way around the full court press to jump up on them 9-5 in the early goings. The Mavericks would settle in as the pressure would start to swing momentum and willed them to a slim three-point lead halfway through the first. The Mavericks would find their footing offensively as they found the spark, they needed by Destinee Bursch who started an 11-2 run to end the first and hit the break with a 25-17 lead. The Mavericks would stretch that run to 15-2 to begin the second. The Cougars would begin to nip away at the lead. They answered with a 12-4 run of their own to get within four with just over three minutes remaining in the half. From there, both team's offenses would go stagnant. Neither team would score again until the Mavericks hit the final shot of the half with 10 seconds remaining and took a 37-29 lead to the locker room.
As a team, the Mavericks shot 37.8% from the floor going 14-37, 28.6% from beyond the arc and 5 of 6 from the charity stripe which was good for 83%. The Mavericks held a slight rebound margin as they hauled in 26 to the Cougars 22. The Mavericks also forced 11 turnovers and racked up seven steals.
The third would be the quarter of separation for the Mavericks. They would open to their biggest lead of the game at 16 after a pair of free throws from Emily Russo with three and half remaining. From there the Mavericks lead would not dip below 12 the remainder of the quarter. They hit the break with a 59-47 lead. The fourth quarter would prove to be a trying one for the Mavericks as they were dealing with foul trouble as five players had three or more fouls. The Cougars were able to find some success around the Mavericks pressure and started the frame on a 5-2 run to get within nine. With just under four and half remaining the Cougars would go on a scoring tear and rip off an 8-0 run to cut the Maverick lead to three at 67-64. The Maverick defense however was resilient and held off the late charge and would end the game with tough defense and a 6-0 run to extinguish the Cougars with a 73-64 victory.
As a team, the Mavericks would go 27-70 from the field which was good for 38.6%. Comparatively, the Cougars would shoot 33.3% from the field going 21-63. The Mavericks would finish the night shooting 29.4% from downtown and 14-20 from the free throw line good for 70%. They owned a 46-42 rebounding margin and amassed 17 steals. The Mavericks forced 19 turnovers which is the sixth time this season they have forced 15 or more in a game. They were able to convert that into 24 points on the other end.
The Mavericks return to action tomorrow evening as they wrap-up the weekend NSIC home stand against Southwest Minnesota State at Taylor Center with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m.
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