MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State women's basketball (3-1) defeated the Eagles of the University of Northwestern (MN) (1-2) Wednesday 104-57. Senior guard Destinee Bursch led all scorers with 27 points in the win. Natalie Bremer also scored 22 points of her own against the Eagles.
 
The Mavericks dominated possession in the game, as the team took 40 more shots than UNW and forced 33 Eagle turnovers. Minnesota State scored 44 points off those turnovers.
 
A layup from Ava Stier put the Mavericks up 6-0 early in the game. After a pair of three-pointers from the Eagles made it a two-point game, Minnesota State responded quickly. Bremer and freshman Elisabeth Gadient made three straight threes of their own to immediately put the team up 19-8 with 5:15 left to play in the period. The Mavericks didn't miss a shot for the rest of the first quarter, as MSU went on a 16-5 run to close out the quarter with a 35-13 lead. Minnesota State shot 15-20 from the field in the opening quarter.
 
The Eagles started the second with a huge 15-3 run to cut the Maverick lead to 10 with six minutes to play in the half. Bremer and the Mavericks took control right back, scoring 13-straight in under three minutes of play to put the home team up 51-28. Bremer scored three layups in the stretch and Gadient sunk a three-pointer. Fellow freshman Rhyan Holmgren assisted on three consecutive makes for the Mavericks on that run. Bursch scored a layup as time expired to put Minnesota State up 55-32 headed into the locker room for halftime.
 
Minnesota State shot 24-40 from the field in the first half, including 4-11 from beyond the arc. The Mavericks forced 15 turnovers in the first half and scored 21 points from those takeaways. 34 of Minnesota State's points came from the paint through two quarters.
 
The Mavericks had three players in double figures through the first 20 minutes. Bremer led the team with 15 points. Bursch's last-second shot gave her 12 in the first half. Gadient scored 13 points in the first.
 
Bremer began the second half with a layup to put the team up 25. A minute-and-a-half long 10-0 run that saw Bremer and Bursch sinking back-to-back threes put MSU up 67-34 with 6:36 left in the third quarter. The rest of the quarter was tightly contested with scores from both sides. Mackenzie Schweim made the last bucket of the quarter with a layup off an assist from point guard Hannah Herzig which put the Mavericks up 75-44 after 30 minutes.
 
Freshman forward Mallory Czinano scored her first two baskets to kick off the fourth quarter of play. After Ella Falk made a three-pointer for UNW, Schweim responded with one of her own to make the score 84-47. The Eagles went on a 7-2 run, but the Mavericks responded with a 12-0 run of their own over the following three minutes. Bursch scored three straight layups to start the run to give her 27 on the night. Czinano put MSU over the century mark and a three-pointer from Emily Dreckman was the final basket of the game. Minnesota State defeated Northwestern 104-57.
 
The Mavericks shot 46-90 (51.1% FG) from the field, 8-25 from beyond the arc (32% 3P) and 4-7 from the charity stripe. The team grabbed 48 total rebounds, including 26 offensive rebounds, 19 more than Northwestern. MSU dished out 27 assists, forced 33 turnovers and recorded 22 steals. The Mavericks scored 20 fastbreak points, 44 points off turnovers and 68 points in the paint against the Eagles.
 
Bursch ended with 27 points on 13-17 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. She also made her only three-point attempt of the evening. Bremer recorded 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists. She shot 10-12 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Gadient ended with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Both Herzig and Schweim ended with six points, three assist and four steals. Holmgren was the team's assist leader with six.
 
The Mavericks are off until their road trip next week. Minnesota State first travels up to Minnesota Duluth (1-2) for a matchup with the Bulldogs. That game is on Tuesday, November 26 at 5:30 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium. Then, the team will road trip to Colorado for a pair of games against Colorado School of Mines (1-4) and Regis (0-2). The Mavericks play the Orediggers on Friday, November 29 at 6 p.m. and take on the Rangers on Saturday, November 30 at 4 p.m.