ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – No. 1 Minnesota State (1-0) defeated the Emporia State Hornets (0-1) in its season opener at the Regional Crossover Challenge Friday night, 99-74. Maverick stars Destinee Bursch and Natalie Bremer combined for 43 points in the win.
 
The Hornets took an early 6-2 lead off a pair of threes, but a layup from Ava Stier tied the score at 6-6. After the Mavericks tied the score, Emporia State went on another 6-2 run to make it 15-8 in favor of the Hornets. Minnesota State held ESU scoreless for over four minutes as the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. Bursch closed the quarter with a three-pointer with 19 seconds left to put the Mavericks up 24-20 after the first ten minutes of play. Stier led MSU with six points in the first quarter. Bursch had five points, four rebounds and an assist. Hannah Herzig also had four steals in the opening quarter.
 
A Hornet three cut the lead to just one to open scoring in quarter two. After some back-and-forth scoring, Emporia State took a 30-29 lead on a three-pointer from Gracie Gilpin, but freshman Rhyan Holmgren made a layup to give MSU the lead back and a tip-in from Mackenzie Schweim put the Mavericks up by three. Both Bursch and Bremer combined for six free throw makes in the last 1:22 of the half. Minnesota State led 43-38 headed into the locker room for halftime. Bremer led the Mavericks with 12 points through 20 minutes. Holmgren had five points in the second quarter.
 
Bursch started the second half with a layup to put the Mavericks up by seven. The senior from Chaska, Minn. had two more fastbreak layups off a pair of steals generated by herself and Bremer to put Minnesota State up by nine, but a Gilpin three-pointer ended the run. Emporia State utilized some missed free throws from MSU to stay in the game; the Hornets took a one-point lead after a sunk three-pointer from Elizabeth Tjaden. A pair of Herzig free throws swung the lead back in favor of the Mavericks and a made jumper and a fastbreak layup from Bursch put Minnesota State up by five with 3:22 remaining in the quarter.
 
Bremer finished a fastbreak layup off a defensive board from Bursch to increase the Maverick lead to seven. Schweim made a fastbreak layup and one of two free throws to put Minnesota State up 64-59 heading into the final quarter. Bursch scored 10 points in the quarter and grabbed four rebounds.
 
Minnesota State started the fourth quarter on fire, as the team went on an 11-2 run to open the period; freshman Elisabeth Gadient made a three, Bremer had six points and Bursch also had a layup. After a Hornet three ended the run, an and-one layup made by Bursch started a new one, as the Mavericks would go on a 13-0 run to put Minnesota State up 90-64 with time running out. The Mavericks won the game 99-74, as Minnesota State won its seventh-consecutive season opener. MSU scored 35 points in the final quarter, outscoring Emporia State by 20 in the quarter.
 
The Mavericks shot 45% from the field in the game against Emporia State, 27% from beyond the arc and made 27-39 charity stripe attempts. The team had 19 steals, scored 31 points off turnovers, 23 fast break points and 21 second-chance points. MSU finished with 53 rebounds total, 22 offensive rebounds and 31 on the defensive end. Emporia State was held to just a 37% field goal percentage against the Mavericks.
 
Bursch posted a game-high 22 points in the win on 14 shots; she also contributed eight rebounds, two assists and a steal against the Hornets. Bremer ended with 21 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and two dimes in the win.
 
Stier provided 10 points, eight rebounds and dished out three assists from the post. Both Schweim and Holmgren had eight points. Herzig put together an all-around performance, with seven points and five steals.
 
Gilpin led the Hornets with 18 points against Minnesota State. She shot 4-14 from three-point range.
 
"This was a great gut check for our team tonight," said Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse. "We had a few too many fouls that effected our flow. We stayed the course with our consistent effort and found a way to ride a nice run to start the fourth. This was a great team effort and we'll need to continue to rely on our depth to keep the pace in our favor for our second game tomorrow."
 
Minnesota State is back in action tomorrow afternoon for its second game in the Regional Crossover Challenge. The Mavericks play Northwest Missouri State (2-1) Saturday, November 9 at 2:45 p.m. in the Civic Center in St. Joeseph. The Bearcats defeated MSU Moorhead Friday afternoon, 54-47, for their second win of the season.