SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Minnesota State women's basketball (5-4) downed the Augustana Vikings (1-5) in a conference game Friday night, 64-52. Senior guard Joey Batt ended with 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Mavericks. Batt scored her 1,500^th points tonight, making her just the seventh player in program history to reach the milestone. After taking a commanding lead in the first half, Augustana would score just 18 second-half points, allowing for the Mavericks to take the win. This win marks the sixth-straight win for Minnesota State over Augustana.

An early Batt layup put the Mavericks up 6-2, and a Grace Mueller free throw made it 7-2. Augustana wouldn't go away, though, as a CJ Adamson and-one layup brought the Maverick lead to 13-9. Scores by Lauren Sees and Izzy Moore would tie the game at 14-14 with 1:36 left in the quarter. Michaela Jewett hit a late three-pointer to put the Vikings up 19-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Destinee Bursch scored four quick points to get the Mavericks started in the second quarter. With 7:14 left in the quarter, Emily Herzberg made an excellent pass to a cutting Batt to set up an easy score; this layup marked Batt reaching 1,500 points as a part of the Mavericks. She is the seventh player in program history to reach that milestone. Herzberg made Minnesota State's first three-pointer with 6:42 left in the quarter to cut the Viking lead to three, 26-23. The Mavericks went into halftime trailing Augustana 34-29.

Minnesota State shot just 29% in the first half (12-41 FG) and made one three-pointer in its first nine attempts. The Mavericks also shot 4-9 from the free throw line in the first half.  Minnesota State forced 14 first-half turnovers and scored nine points off those turnovers.

Augustana shot a fantastic 48% (13-27 FG) in the first half and hit two of its seven three-point attempts in the first half. The Vikings narrowly outrebounded the Mavericks in the first half, 23-21.

Batt led all scorers through the first 20 minutes, with 10 points and two steals. Bursch had six points and three rebounds. Ava Stier had four points and four rebounds. Emily Russo also had four rebounds in the first half; she also scored three points. Both Jewett and Moore for the Vikings had seven points to lead Augustana through the first half.

The second half opened with an Augstana layup scored by Jewett to increase the Augustana lead by seven points, but scores by Batt, Herzberg and Bursch brought the Mavericks back, 36-35. Bailey Conrad scored a bucket to give the Mavericks a 40-39 lead with 4:25 to go in the quarter. The Mavericks closed out the quarter on an 8-2 run led by a three-pointer from Herzberg. In the third quarter, MSU held Augustana to just 7 points. Minnesota State led 48-41 after 30 minutes of play.

Batt scored eight quick points to open up the fourth quarter for the Mavericks, extending their lead to 56-41. Stier hit a jumper to cap off a 20-2 run by the Mavericks with 6:54 left to play. In the end, the Mavericks closed out the game, beating Augustana, 64-52.

Minnesota State ended up shooting 26-82 from the field (37.7% FG) against Augustana, including 3-17 from three-point range (17.6% 3PT). The team made nine of its 19 free throw attempts (47.4% FT). The Mavericks ended up outrebounding the Vikings 51-42 thanks to MSU grabbing 24 offensive rebounds. All of those second chances resulted in 16 points for the Mavericks. The Mavericks forced 24 turnovers and scored 19 points off those turnovers.

Batt led all scorers with 21 points against Augustana, tying her season-high. She shot 8-15 and ended with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Bursch ended with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Herzberg and Stier each ended up scoring eight points for Minnesota State. Herzberg collected six rebounds, two assists, two steals, a block and shot 2-5 from three-point range. Stier ended with 10 rebounds.

Augustana ended shooting 20-58 from the floor (34.5% FG) and 4-22 from beyond the arc (18.2% 3PT). The Vikings were mostly silenced in the second half, scoring just 18 points in the third and fourth quarters.

Sees was the leading scorer for the Vikings, scoring 12 points. She also finished with three rebounds, four assists, three steals and seven turnovers. Moore ended up with 10 points. Jewett grabbed 11 rebounds for Augustana and scored nine points.

"Any road win in the NSIC is a good win," said Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse. "Our team showed great resiliency tonight by staying focused on our defensive when the shots weren't falling for us offensively. We got big stops and rebuonded the ball very well which took a lot of pressure off our players. We've grown so much in that area and we really stayed the course. Our defense is our backbone and tonight we proved we can grind out a win with a consistent defensive effort."

Minnesota State is back on the road again tomorrow, traveling to Neb. to take on Wayne State (3-3). The Mavericks play the Wildcats at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.