MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State women's basketball (8-4, 5-1 NSIC) will play its final game of 2023 against the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul (9-2, 5-1 NSIC) on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 4 p.m. at the Taylor Center in Mankato. The Mavericks have won six-straight games, including five-straight against conference opponents. Minnesota State and Concordia are both tied for the top spot in the NSIC.
 
About the Mavericks
 
Road Success: Minnesota State has won its last three games, each on the road. The Mavericks traveled to Augustana and Wayne State, defeating the Vikings 64-52 and the Wildcats 106-64. Against Wayne State, Minnesota State recorded 31 steals, the most in a single game in program history. Joey Batt contributed 10 of those steals, the most a Minnesota State player has had since the 1997-98 season. She also scored a season-high 26 points on 11-14 shooting and had five assists. Minnesota State dominated the Wildcats, beating WSC by a final score of 106-64.
Last Thursday, the Mavericks traveled to Winona State and defeated the Warriors 66-48. Batt, who finished with four steals against the Warriors, passed Rhonda House to become the Minnesota State all-time leader in steals, with 293. Destinee Bursch finished that game with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and zero turnovers.
 
Three-Way Tie: Minnesota State is currently tied for first place in the NSIC with Concordia and Northern State, each team with a 5-1 conference record. The Mavericks have won six-straight games, the longest winning streak in the conference.
 
Leadoff Batt: After missing the first five games due to an injury, senior Batt has been a keystone of the Minnesota State attack. The New Ulm, Minn. native is averaging 18.1 points per game while shooting 52% and 39% from beyond the arc through her first seven games, all team-highs. She also leads the team in minutes, assists and steals per game. Batt was named NSIC Player of the Week after her excellent performances versus Augustana and Wayne State.
 
Like Candy from a Baby: The Mavericks lead the NSIC in steals with a team total of 202. Minnesota State has stolen the ball 91 more times than the next highest in the conference. The team also ranks fourth in the country in steals, averaging 16.8 takeaways per game. Minnesota State opponents, on average, turn the ball over 27 times per game and score 30.7 points off of those turnovers.
Hannah Herzig leads the team in steals, with 35 (2.9 per game). Batt, in seven games, has recorded 29 steals, averaging over four per game. Natalie Bremer has 22 steals, Mackenzie Schweim has 21, Emily Herzberg has 20 and Bursch has 19. All in all, the Mavericks have nine players averaging one steal or more per game.
 
Team Stats: Minnesota State leads the NSIC in scoring, averaging 76.6 points per game on 41% shooting, while winning each game by an average margin of victory of 14.4 points. The Mavericks are shooting 25% from three-point range and 69.6% from the charity stripe in 2023-24. The team collects 41 rebounds per game and dishes out 14 assists on average.
 
Team Leaders: Bursch is the Mavericks leading scorer so far this season, scoring 165 points and averaging 13.8 points per game on 42.5% field goal shooting. She is also the leading passer for Minnesota State, assisting on 38 shots this season. Batt's 18.1 points per game leads the team. Herzberg is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 5.3 boards each game. Batt and Herzig are tied for the team lead in three-point percentage, each shooting 39% from three.
 
Recent Milestones Reached: Mavericks head coach Emilee Thiesse reached the 200-win mark against Sioux Falls on Dec. 1. She is the second head coach in program history to reach this milestone. Coach Thiesse's teams have made the NCAA Tournament four times (2012-13, 2014-15, 2021-22 and 2022-23). She has a record of 151-84 against NSIC opponents.
During the game against Wayne State, Batt hopped two spots to become the fourth leading scorer in Minnesota State women's basketball history, with 1,539. She now sits behind Ali Wilkinson, who scored 1,634 points in her career. Batt also became the Mavericks' all-time steals leader against Winona State.
 
Approaching Greatness: Former NSIC Newcomer of the Year Bursch is currently 44 points away from scoring 1,000 points in her career.
 
 
About the Golden Bears
 
Concordia-St. Paul women's basketball has had an excellent start to its 2023-24 season. The Golden Bears are 9-2 and are tied for first in the NSIC along with Minnesota State and Northern State. Concordia is coming off of two-consecutive wins against Sioux Falls and the 22^nd ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Bears blew out the Cougars 63-39 and pulled off the upset over the Bulldogs at home, 69-60. Concordia held UMD to just 37.5% shooting in the win.
 
The Bears are averaging 68.4 points per game and are winning their games by an average of seven points. The team shoots 44% from the field (ranks second in the NSIC) and just under 30% from beyond the arc. Concordia sinks just about 70% of its free throw attempts. The Golden Bears collect 37.5 rebounds per game while dishing out 12.5 assists on average. Concordia turns the ball over 14.3 times per game. The teams steals the ball 7.7 times per game and blocks 5.5 shots per game.
 
Ally Gietzel is the Bears' leading scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game, shooting 45% from the field and 44% from three. Gietzel also grabs seven rebounds and passes out 2.5 assists per game. Lauren Wilson and Lindsey Becher are each averaging about 12 points per game. Becher is the team-leader in blocks, averaging 2.4 per game. Leah Dengerud averages 1.7 steals per game to lead Concordia-St. Paul.
 
Concordia women's basketball is coached by Amanda Johnson, who is in the midst of her ninth season as head coach of the Bears. Johnson has amassed a 121-87 record with Concordia-St. Paul after being named the interim head coach midway through the 2015-16 season. Johnson is an alum of Golden Bears women's basketball, earning NSIC Player of the Year honors twice in her career.
 
Whoever wins this matchup on Tuesday will hold the all-time series lead between the two programs, as both teams have 23 wins over the other. The Mavericks have won the last two matchups and have won six of the last 10 games.