KENOSHA, Wis. – Minnesota State women's basketball (2-1) defeated the UW-Parkside Rangers (2-1) on Saturday afternoon, 82-75. The game was tied 54-54 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks outscored Parkside 28-21 in the final period. Junior guard Natalie Bremer ended with a 23-point double-double en route to a win.
 
After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Bremer got the Mavericks on the board with a layup. Parkside made a couple of two-pointers to take the lead, but a pair of free throws from Destinee Bursch and a three-point make from Mackenzie Schweim put Minnesota State back up 7-4. Hannah Herzig scored to put the team up by three and the Mavericks went into the first media timeout with a 10-6 lead thanks to a free throw make from freshman Elisabeth Gadient.
 
Adeline Kent sunk a jumper out of the break and a layup from fellow newcomer Mallory Czinano put the Mavericks up 15-7. Herzig closed the quarter out for MSU with a layup to go up 19-11 headed into the second.
 
Gadient opened the scoring for the Mavericks in quarter two with a layup to go up 21-13.  Bremer drove inside for a layup and then pulled up from three to put MSU up 27-16. Parkside went on a 9-2 run to significantly cut into the Maverick lead, 29-25. The Rangers hung with Minnesota State through the end of the half, as the score read 37-34 when the clocks hit zero on the clock.
 
MSU shot 12-38 from the field in the first half, making 2-12 three-point attempts and 11-20 from the free-throw line. The Mavericks grabbed 22 rebounds, dished out three assists and forced 16 turnovers in the first half. The bench had 11 points through 20 minutes of play.
 
Bremer, Bursch and Herzig each ended the half with seven points. Despite a 3-10 shooting performance in the first half, Bremer had six rebounds and two steals in the first two quarters. Herzig also had two steals in those quarters, as did Gadient and Kent.
 
Cassidy Arni and Chloe Van Zeeland each scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in the first half. The Rangers had three blocks in the first half and Arni had two.
 
The Rangers took the lead on a 6-2 run to start the third quarter, 40-39, but a Bursch jumper and a three from Ava Stier put the Mavericks back on top. With 4:38 in the period, Bremer nailed a three off an assist from Czinano to put the Mavericks up 50-43. However, UW-Parkside ended the quarter on a 9-2 run over the last two and a half minutes to tie the game at 54-54 headed into the fourth.
 
Schweim immediately opened the fourth quarter with a three off a pass from Gadient. Freshman Lucy Leininger put the Mavericks up by three with a layup on the following possession, 59-56. Bursch ended a two-minute scoring drought for both teams after Leininger's score. The Rangers made three free throws after a flurry of fouls, but Schweim sunk another three and Bremer made a layup to force a Parkside timeout when the scoreboard read 66-59 with 5:49 on the clock.
 
A Ranger turnover off a three-point miss resulted in another Bremer bucket to put the team up by nine. UW-Parkside scored on back-to-back possessions to cut its deficit to five. Sheridan Flauger for Parkside hit a three-pointer to make the score 70-66 with 4:11 remaining in regulation. Bremer made an and-one jumper and converted her charity stripe visit to put the Mavericks up by seven with 2:30 remaining. 25 seconds later, Bursch converted her own and-one play to put the Mavericks up by nine headed into the final media timeout. Minnesota State closed out the game as the team won 82-75.
 
The Mavericks shot 39.4% (26-66 FG) against the Rangers and made 6-21 (28.6% 3P) from beyond the arc and 24-36 (66.7% FT) from the free throw line. The team grabbed 40 rebounds, dished out eight assists, recorded 12 steals and forced 20 Parkside turnovers. MSU ended with 20 points from bench players, 12 fastbreak points and 13 points off turnovers.
 
Bremer scored a season-high 23 points in the game against UWP. She shot 8-16 from the field with two three-point makes in four attempts. She also recorded her first double-double of the 2024-25 season with 10 rebounds. Bremer also led the team with three steals.
 
Bursch ended with 16 points, two rebounds and an assist. Schweim had 12 points, four boards, an assist and a steal and she led MSU with three three-pointers made.
 
Newcomers were key in the Mavericks' win Saturday afternoon. Leininger and Czinano each had four points in the game. Leininger had the team's only block and Czinano led Minnesota State with two assists. Gadient ended with five points, two rebounds, an assist and three steals. Kent led bench players with six points and she grabbed five boards and had two steals.
 
Our focus as a team has been making game-time adjustments and bringing a focused effort," said Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse. "In the second half, especially, we settled in and found a great flow with how to force stops and eliminate fouls. This is a nice road win for our team early in the season. We need to be hungry to continue to grow every day as we gain more and more experience playing with each other."
 
Minnesota State plays its first home game of the season on Wednesday, November 20 at 6 p.m. in the Taylor Center. The Mavericks will play the University of Northwestern (Minn.) Eagles, who are 1-2 to start this new women's basketball season. This will be the Mavericks' first meeting against the Eagles.