MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State women's basketball team begins the 2024-25 season in the same building it won the 2024 NCAA National Championship, the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo., for a pair of games at the Regional Crossover Challenge. The Mavericks play Emporia State on Friday, Nov. 8 at 5:15 p.m. and the Wildcats of Northwest Missouri State on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 2:45 p.m.
 
About the Mavericks
Nice Ring to It: Minnesota State is coming off the second National Championship in program history. The team finished last season with a 32-5 record with a 20-2 conference record. The Mavericks won 19-consecutive games (a program record) en route to an NSIC regular season title. As the top seed in the NSIC Tournament, Minnesota State earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after defeating UMary, 89-74, for the first NSIC Tournament Championship in program history.

The Mavericks never trailed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament and as the seventh seed, trounced host Southern Nazarene 80-48 to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight against Georgia Southwestern, the Mavericks narrowly came away with the victory, 93-88. The National Semifinal round came down to the wire against Cal State San Marcos. Following a Cougar turnover with five seconds remaining, senior Emily Herzberg inbounded the ball to Natalie Bremer, who was immediately triple-teamed, as she was the leading scorer in the game with 29 points. Herzberg made a quick cut to the basket and Bremer found her for the game-winning layup to put MSU in the Championship game.

The Mavericks played Texas Woman's University in the National Title game. On March 29, Minnesota State took home the National Championship trophy with an 89-73 win over the Pioneers. Bremer had 27 points in the game. The win earned head coach Emilee Thiesse her first National Championship in her 12^th season at the helm of the Minnesota State women's basketball program.
 
Can't Say Enough, Let the Numbers Talk: Despite all the incredible storylines that came along with the 2023-24 Mavericks, the team also found success on the stat-sheet. Minnesota State had the highest turnover margin in the country, forcing 13.11 more turnovers than those it committed. The Mavericks were the second-ranked team in both turnovers forced per game (28.05) and steals per game (17.1). MSU was also the 11^th-best offensive rebounding team in the country as the team averaging 15.9 second chances per game. With all of those extra possessions, the Mavericks maintained the fourth-best offense in the nation with an 82.9 points per game average.
 
Preseason???: Minnesota State was chosen as the top team in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll for the third year in a row. Destinee Bursch was chosen as the team's player to watch for this season. "Destinee has played a large role in our program's success over the past 3 seasons," said Coach Thiesse. "She is an incredibly explosive player and has the ability to create and finish shots in so many different ways. Destinee is a true competitor who brings so much intensity and energy to everything we do. Her work ethic and passion for the game make everyone around her better."
 
Starting at the Top: Minnesota State sits atop the national WBCA Division II Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll for the 2024-25 season after winning the National Championship last season. With the Mavericks in first, this marks the highest the Mavericks have been ranked in the WBCA Preseason Poll. MSU received 571 total points including 20 first-place votes in the poll.
 
Welcome Back: The Mavericks are returning 10 players including three starters from the 2023-24 Championship roster. Seniors Bursch, Emily Russo and Desiree Kleiman, juniors Bremer, Hannah Herzig, Delaynie Luneckas, Lilly Nuytten, Mackenzie Schweim and Ava Stier, and redshirt freshman Shantell Harden all return for the new year.
 
Welcome In: Seven newcomers joined the Minnesota State roster this season. The Mavericks brought in two transfers, junior guards Emily Dreckman from Kirkwood Community College and Adeline Kent from Tampa. MSU also signed five freshmen to the squad; Mallory Czinano, Elisabeth Gadient, Rhyan Holmgren, Lucy Leininger and Hannah Leverson will all be in their first collegiate seasons in Mankato.
 
For Starters…: The Mavericks return three starters from last season, including Bremer, Bursch and Russo. Bremer was the team's leading scorer in 2023-24, as she ended with 579 points and a 15.6 points per game average. She shot 46.7 percent from the field and 84.4 percent from the free throw line with 4.4 rebounds, one assist and 2.6 steals per game. Bursch also had an excellent season, ending with 559 points with averages of 15.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game with 48/27/76 shooting splits. Both Bremer and Bursch were named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team last year. Russo was a solid complementary post player. She averaged 4.6 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal per contest in 32 games for the Mavericks. Russo was also one of the team leaders in field goal percentage, shooting 50 percent in 2023-24.
 
Strong Sideline: The Mavericks are returning 20.6 points per game from their bench. Although roles may change, Herzig was Minnesota State's sixth-man last year; She averaged eight points per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from deep. The Lino Lakes, Minn. native also averaged 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season. Stier was MSU's main rotational post player and averaged 5.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and over one steal per game. The team's leading rebounder, Stier made a living grabbing offensive boards, averaging 2.4 offensive rebounds per contest. Schweim was another awesome 3-and-D player for the team. The Mankato East graduate averaged 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
Elite Coaching: The Mavericks women's basketball program is led by head coach Emilee Thiesse, who enters her 13^th year in Mankato. Thiesse has an all-time record of 228-116 and an NSIC record of 169-85. Minnesota State has won 76 percent of its games in the Taylor Center under Coach Thiesse. She has led the Mavericks to six 20-win seasons and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Last season, Thiesse was named NSIC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. She is 19 wins away from becoming the winningest coach in program history.
 
Storied Program: Minnesota State has an overall record of 837-661, good for a .559 winning percentage. The Mavericks have nine NCAA Tournament appearances. 2024-25 marks the 58^th season in MSU women's basketball history.
 
 
About the Hornets
Emporia State went 14-16 in 2023-24 with a 10-12 conference record in the MIAA. The Hornets lost their last regular season game to Washburn University in an overtime heartbreaker, 59-58. However, the team defeated Northeastern State in the first round of the MIAA Tournament, 72-58, then fell to Missouri Western, whom Minnesota State knocked out of the first round of the Central Region Tournament.
 
The Hornets returned six players from last year's squad. The team brought in nine freshmen for the 2024-25 incoming class, as well as four transfer players.
 
Last season, the Hornets averaged 64.7 points, 36.8 rebounds and 11.2 assists per game. ESU averaged 12.9 turnovers a game last year. The team also averaged 6.8 steals and two blocks per game.
 
The team returned its leading scorer from last season, Faith Paramore, who averaged 14.8 points, 8.5 boards, 2.4 assists, half a block and a steal per game in 2023-24. Paramore was named to the All-MIAA Third Team. She transfered from Oral Roberts.
 
Gracie Gilpin and Katie Horyna also returned for the Hornets as two 10 point per game scorers. Gilpin was the team's leading three-point shooter with 74 makes in 227 attempts from beyond the arc (.326 3P%). Horyna was Emporia State's leading passer with a 3.8 assists per game average.
 
Brian Ostermann leads the Hornets from the sidelines. He begins his second year as the head of the Emporia State women's basketball program after nine seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State University.
 
Minnesota State is 0-2 against the Hornets. The last time these two region opponents played was 2013. Emporia State won 69-67.
 
 
About the Bearcats
Northwest Missouri State had a great 2023-24 campaign. The team went 23-8 with a 16-6 conference record in the MIAA. The Bearcats won their first seven games of the season last year. After defeating Nebraska-Kearney 64-62 in the opening round of the conference tournament, the Bearcats fell to Fort Hays State 56-49 in the following round of the tournament. Northwest Missouri State matched up with the Tigers in the NCAA Central Region Tournament again and lost 62-47 before Minnesota State knocked FHSU out of the tournament in the next round.
 
The Bearcats returned nine players from last year's team. Northwest Missouri State brought in eight newcomers: seven freshman and one transfer, Emree Zars from William Jewell.
 
NWMSU averaged 66.3 points, 36.4 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 7.3 steals and 3.2 blocks per game. The team shot 40% from the field, just under 32% from three and 72% from the free throw line. The 2023-24 Bearcats averaged 13.2 turnovers committed per game.
 
Bearcat leading scorers Molly Hartnett and Caely Kesten both returned for this season. Hartnett averaged 12.5 points per game while shooting just under 40% from the field to go along with four boards, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Kesten averaged 12.3 points per game with a 42% field goal percentage. She also sunk 36% of three-pointers, and 88% of her free throws.
 
Austin Meyer is the ninth coach in Bearcat women's basketball history. This is his sixth year with the program. Meyer is third in all-time wins in Northwest Missouri State history with 82.
 
The Mavericks won the only matchup between the two teams back in 2022. Minnesota State won in Hays, Kan., 71-46.