Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team (6-0, 2-0 NSIC) played host to the Upper Iowa University women's basketball team (1-6, 0-2 NSIC) in Thursday night in their conference home opener. The Mavericks pressure was immense and unrelenting for the entire game. The Mavericks would control this one start to finish and cruise to an 88-48 win to remain undefeated.
The Mavericks had five players reach double figures as sophomore Joey Batt led all scorers with 19 and six rebounds. Freshman Destinee Bursch drained 13 and snagged seven rebounds. Mikayla Nachazel, Maddy Olson and Molly Ihle had 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Batt continued her streak of 15 plus points per game as she has done it now all six games of the season. Senior Rylee Menster hauled in eight boards which led all Mavericks in the contest.
The Mavericks in the first applied their patented full court pressure and swarmed the Peacocks. They would quickly begin with two steals for back-to-back layups. The Peacocks would try and hang tight but, a 10-2 run would push the Mavericks lead in to double digits. The Mavericks would rack up eight steals and forced the Peacocks into 10 turnovers in the first and took a commanding 18-point lead to end the first. The Mavericks defense continued its strong effort into the second and converting on the offensive end as they only allowed eight points the entire quarter. The Mavericks would hold a commanding 54-19 lead at half.
As a team, the Mavericks shot 52.5% from the field, 4-13 from three-point range for just over 30%. From the stripe the Mavericks were 8-10 for 80% in the half. The Mavericks were dominant in the paint as they outscored the Peacocks 28-8 in the first half. They forced the Peacocks into 18 turnovers and turned that into 24 fast break points on the offensive side.
The second half continued to see Maverick success on both ends of the court as the Mavericks would lead by as much as 41 in the third and never have the lead fall below 30. The Mavericks ended the third up 73-36. The Mavericks would look to their bench in the fourth to finish off the Peacocks as they continued to take of care business as the Mavericks would run away with it with a final score of 88-48.
The Mavericks finished the contest shooting 43.7% from the field, 23.8% from three-point range and 67.7% from the stripe. The Mavericks out rebounded the Peacocks 52-37. In the end the Mavericks forced 23 Peacock turnovers and had 17 steals.
The Mavericks return to action as they head to Winona, Minn., to take on the Warriors of Winona State on Saturday December 4th, with tip-off slated for 3:30 p.m.
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