WINONA, Minn. – Minnesota State women's basketball (8-4, 5-1 NSIC) defeated the Warriors of Winona State (3-7, 3-3 NSIC) at McCown Gymnasium, 66-48. Destinee Bursch was the leading scorer for the Mavericks, putting up a season-high 22 points, six rebounds and four assists. Senior Joey Batt passed Rhonda House to become the Minnesota State women's basketball All-Time steals leader in the second quarter.

The first quarter was tightly contested, as the score through three and a half minutes was 4-4. Winona State took a 9-4 lead after two-point and three-point jumpers from Olivia Gamoke. Winona State closed out the quarter on a 13-2 run: the first period ended with the Warriors up 17-6. Minnesota State shot just 3-14 from the field in the first quarter.

Minnesota State started the second quarter aggressively, going on a 12-2 run to tie the game at 19-19 to start the quarter. The Mavericks shot 6-9 from the floor in that stretch and forced eight turnovers. With 4:47 left to play in the quarter, Batt stole the ball from Gamoke. This steal marked Batt's 291st career steal, making her the all-time steals leader in Mavericks women's basketball history, passing Rhonda House. The Mavericks closed out the half on a 10-7 run, culminating in a Batt three-pointer with seven seconds left to put Minnesota State up 29-26 going into halftime.

The Mavericks shot just under 41% in the first half, including 2-10 from beyond the arc. MSU went into halftime, having forced 12 turnovers and stealing possession five times, scoring 18 points from those forced turnovers.

Bursch was the leading scorer going into halftime with 12 points. She also had two rebounds and two assists. Batt had seven points heading into half; she also had two steals and assists. Natalie Bremer had six points through the first ten minutes.

Winona State shot 40% from the floor and 3-10 from three-point range in the first half. The Warriors got to the free throw line ten times in the first half and converted seven of those opportunities. Winona State outrebounded the Mavericks 23-8 in the first half. Gamoke went into halftime with 10 points (3-6 FG, 2-3 3PT), three rebounds and a block.

The third quarter started with some back-and-forth scoring, capped off by a three-pointer by Herzig that gave the Mavericks a 34-30 lead and then a three-pointer from Alex Dornfeld that cut the Maverick lead back to one. Minnesota State raced on a quick 10-0 run, capitalized by back-to-back three-pointers from Batt and Hannah Herzig to put the Mavericks up 44-33. The Mavericks closed out the quarter, heading into the final stretch up 50-37.

Both teams traded scores back-and-forth again to start the fourth. A layup by Gamoke left the score 57-43 and it remained that way for three minutes in the mid-section of the quarter. The Mavericks closed out the quarter, defeating the Warriors by a final score of 66-48.

The Mavericks shot 25-62 from the field (40.3%) against Winona State, making 6-23 from three and 10-14 from the free throw line. Minnesota State forced 27 turnovers with 12 steals, scoring 33 points off of turnovers.

Bursch led all scorers, dropping a season-high 22 points on 8-17 shooting (2-5 3PT). She also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals with zero turnovers. Herzig was one shy of her career-high with 15 points; she shot 2-3 from three-point range and also contributed two rebounds and two steals. Batt ended with 14 points, shooting 2-4 from beyond the arc, dishing out three assists and stealing the ball four times.

Winona State shot 15-43 from the floor (34.9%) and just 7-23 in the second half. Despite the loss, the Warriors outrebounded Minnesota State 37-27. Gamoke was Winona State's leading scorer; she finished with 14 points.

"Our offense started pretty stagnant tonight, but in the second quarter our defense was able to create some offense for us," said Mavericks head coach Emilee Thiesse. "Overall, our second half was much more consistent, and we made the necessary adjustments to improve our defensive field goal percentage and rebounding opportunities." All-in-all, Thiesse was satisfied with the victory. "It was a great team effort on defense and exciting to see Joey become the all-time steals leader in program history."

Minnesota State is back at home to close out its 2023 season against Concordia-St. Paul (9-2, 5-1 NSIC) on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 4:00 p.m. at the Taylor Center. The Mavericks are currently tied with the Golden Bears for second place in the NSIC, with each team boasting a 5-1 conference record. Minnesota State is 6-4 in the last 10 matchups against Concordia, winning each of the last two.