WAYNE, Neb. – Minnesota State women's basketball (7-4) defeated the Wildcats of Wayne State College (3-5) Saturday evening, 106-64. Joey Batt ended with a double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 steals. Batt passed Lynn Pererson and Pat Burns to become the fourth-highest scorer in Minnesota State women's basketball history. The Mavericks also had 31 steals against the Wildcats, the highest single-game total in program history.

The Mavericks started out on fire, hitting each of their first five shots to take a quick 14-2 lead, with Natalie Bremer making a layup to force a Wayne State timeout. The Wildcats came right back, with two straight three-pointers by Carsyn Boswell and Delaney Clark to make the score 14-8. Minnesota State ended up closing out the quarter on a 18-4 run to take a 32-12 lead to end the first quarter. During that run, Batt scored a layup; this score gave her 1,519 career points, making her fifth on the Mavericks all-time scorers list. Batt would later move into fourth place on that list.

Wayne State came back in the second quarter fast, with two three-pointers from Britney Ho and Jordon Heckert, as well as a layup and a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats a hot 10-2 start to the second period. But the Mavericks answered, going on a quick 8-0 run to extend the Maverick lead back to 20. After a Batt bucket to put the Mavericks up 44-25, the Wildcats went on their own 8-0 run, bringing the score to 44-33, Minnesota State.

Minnesota State shot 68.8% from the field (22-32 FG) in the first half, including 3-5 from beyond the three-point arc. This was the best shooting quarter for the Mavericks in the 2023-24 season. Minnesota State had 13 steals in the first half and scored 26 points off turnovers. The Mavericks dominated Wayne State in the paint, outscoring them 34-8 in that area of the court. The Wildcats shot 47.8% (11-23 FG) in the first 20 minutes and shot 5-14 from three. Wayne State outrebounded the Mavericks in the first half, 12-10.

Batt had a perfect half of basketball; she scored 20 points, making all nine of her shot attempts, and also had five steals. Bremer was the Mavericks' second leading scorer, with 12 points on 4-5 shooting and 2-2 from beyond the arc. Emily Russo had eight points and three rebounds in the first half. Destinee Bursch had five assists going into halftime.

For the Wildcats, Heckert had 18 first-half points to lead the team. She also had three rebounds a steal and an assist in the first half. Nobody else had more than five points through the first two quarters.

The second half started a little slower than the first, with Minnesota State going on a 7-2 run to start the third quarter, led by six points from Bursch. The Mavericks went on a quick 7-0 run to put the Mavericks up 67-37 with four and a half minutes to play in the quarter. The third quarter ended with a score of 81-47. The Mavericks outscored Wayne State 28-12 in the third period.

Batt hit a three-pointer to cap off a 9-2 run for the Mavericks to start the final quarter to put MSU up 90-49. From here on out, Minnesota State closed out the Wildcats, ending the game on a 19-15, winning the game 106-64.

Minnesota State shot 41-70 from the field (58.6% FG) and had its best game shooting from beyond the arc, shooting 8-13 (61.5% 3PT) from three-point land. This was the best shooting performance for the Mavericks on the season. Minnesota State had 31 steals against the Wildcats, scoring 53 points off of turnovers. The Mavericks dominated the paint, scoring 60 points in that area. Both teams had 29 rebounds.

Batt led all scorers, scoring a season-high 26 points on 11-14 shooting and 2-3 from three. She also finished with a double-double, collecting 10 steals in the game. That ties the most a Maverick has ever had in a game with Angie Swanson, who also had 10 in 1997-98 season. Batt is now just two steals away from the all-time Maverick lead in steals. Batt also had two rebounds and five assists against the Wildcats. Bremer also had a season-high in scoring, dropping 21 points. Bursch finished with 19 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals. Hannah Herzig finished with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals. Russo finished with eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

The Wildcats shot 21-46 (45.7% FG) from the field and 9-22 (40.9% 3PT) from three-point range. Wayne State also shot 13-15 from the free throw line. The Wildcats had 38 points scored from bench players. WSC ended up turning the ball over 36 times against the Mavericks.

Heckert ended with 22 points against the Mavericks. She shot 6-13 from the field, 2-5 from three and 8-8 from the free throw line. She also finished with five rebounds, a steal and an assist. Fitzpatrick finished with eight points, two steals and two assists.

"Our team was clicking on all cylinders tonight," said Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse. "We got great contributions from the entire team and overall kept our intensity from start to finish. We did an excellent job of converting our steals into points. We took some nice steps forward as a team this weekend and need to stay hungry to keep improving."

Minnesota State is back in action against the Winona State Warriors (3-6) on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Winona at McCown Gymnasium. The Mavericks have beaten Warriors in four straight matchups.