MANKATO, Minn. – This weekend, the Minnesota State women's basketball team (5-2, 1-0 NSIC) has two conference matchups against NSIC opponents. The No. 16 Mavericks will play Wayne State (3-2, 0-1 NSIC) on Friday and travel to Augustana (1-5, 0-1 NSIC) for a game on Saturday.
 
at Wayne State
Friday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m., Rice Auditorium, Wayne, Neb.
Watch
Listen
Live Stats
 
at Augustana
Saturday, December 7 at 3:30 p.m. CDT, Sanford Pentagon, Sioux Falls, S.D.
Watch
Listen
Live Stats
 
About the Mavericks
Feeling Thankful: The Mavericks had a busy Thanksgiving holiday! Last Tuesday, the team traveled up to Minnesota Duluth to take on the Bulldogs in the first NSIC game of the season. Minnesota State defeated UMD in an 82-64 smackdown, outscoring the Bulldogs 40-26 in the second and third quarters. Destinee Bursch led the team with 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four steals. Hannah Herzig and Ava Stier each scored 13 in the win and Mackenzie Schweim had 12. Then, the team flew to the Centennial State of Colorado for a pair of nail-biters against Colorado School of Mines and Regis. MSU came up just short against Mines, 92-88; Natalie Bremer ended the game with 25 points and three steals. Bursch had 17 points, eight boards and seven assists in the team's second loss of the season. The next night ended with the same score but with a different result. The Mavericks beat the Rangers 92-88. Bremer tied her career-best with 30 points in the win. Bursch ended the game with 20, and Herzig and freshman Elisabeth Gadient scored 15 points each against Regis.
 
Team Stats: Through seven games, MSU has averaged 87.7 points per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Minnesota State is tied for the fourth-best scoring offense in the nation this season, outscoring opponents 614-535. The Mavericks have grabbed 42.6 rebounds and dished out 14.6 assists per game this year. Minnesota State has forced opponents into 23.1 turnovers per game and the team is averaging 25.7 points per game from those takeaways. The Mavericks' 14.4 steals per game average ranks 13^th in the country. The team also makes more free throws than any other team at the DII level, averaging 19.71 made shots at the charity stripe per contest.
 
Pure Scorers: Natalie Bremer and Destinee Bursch are two of the top three scorers in the NSIC through the team's first four games. Bremer has averaged a conference-best 23.5 points per game while shooting 54.5% from the field, 34.5% from beyond the arc and 78.1% from the free throw line. Her points per game average ranks third amongst all DII players. She tied her career-high with 30 points in the win against Regis. The junior from Lake City, Minn. has reached 20 points in all six of her games played this season. Bursch had her third 20-point performance of the season against Regis after two 17-point games against UMD and Mines. She has shot 52.6% from the field and has averaged 18.4 points per game for Minnesota State this season. The Eden Prairie grad is third in total points and points per game in the NSIC this season. Bursch also leads the team in passing, with 25 assists on the year and a 3.6 assists-per-game average.
 
Rounding out the Starters: Minnesota State has rotated between four other starters who have all been great contributors through the early goings of the season. Mackenzie Schweim is second on the team in minutes played and she has averaged 8.3 points per game this season. The Mankato native is tied with Elisabeth Gadient for the Maverick lead in made three-pointers with seven; Schweim made three shots from behind the arc in the win against Parkside and ended with 12 points. Speaking of Gadient, the freshman tied her career-best with 15 points in the win over Regis. She has averaged eight points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals thus far in her freshman campaign. Ava Stier is the team's starting post player and holds 7.6 point-per-game and 6.3 rebound-per-game averages. Stier scored a career-best 14 points in the Mavericks' loss to Northwest Missouri State. Hannah Herzig is the team's starting point guard and had a big week on the road. The junior surpassed double-digit scoring in all three of the team's road games last week, including a 15-point game against Regis. Herzig has averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.1 steals per game in seven starts.
 
Newcomer Updates: The Mavericks' newcomers have been solid off the bench through these seven games. The Minnesota State bench has averaged 21.3 points per game. Freshman Rhyan Holmgren has averaged 4.9 points per game, two rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. She tied her personal best with eight points in the win against the Bulldogs last Tuesday. Adeline Kent has a 3.4-point-per-game average through the early goings of the regular season. Kent has also averaged 2.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals per contest and is perfect from the free throw line this season.
 
All That Came From Pressure: Minnesota State creates a lot of havoc on the defensive end with its full-court press. The team leads the NSIC in steals with 101, a 14.4-per-game average. MSU has scored 25.7 points per game off turnovers. Seven Maverick players are currently averaging at least one steal per game. Herzig leads the team with 22 total steals and a 3.1 per-game average. Bremer has 15 steals on the season and averaged 2.5 steals per contest. Schweim has averaged 1.6 steals per game, and Bursch, Gadient, Holmgren and Kent all average 1.3 steals.
 
Elite Coaching: The Mavericks women's basketball program is led by head coach Emilee Thiesse, who enters her 13th 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 13 wins away from becoming the winningest coach in program history.
 
 
About the Wildcats
Wayne State has gone back and forth all season in its first five games. The Wildcats have beaten Chadron State, Nebraska-Kearney and William Jewell, but in between each of those wins have lost games to Emporia State and Southwest Minnesota State. The team holds a 3-2 record heading into the first weekend of conference play.
 
The Wildcats have averaged 75 points per game on 43% shooting from both the field and from beyond the arc. The team makes 72.7% of its free throw attempts. WSC grabs 38.6 rebounds, dishes out 17.6 assists and turns the ball over 13.8 times per game. Wayne State has averaged 5.4 steals and 5.8 blocks per game in the 2024-25 season.
 
Junior forward Kylah vanDonkersgoed is the team's leading scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game. She scored 21 points in the loss to SMSU. vanDonkersgoed has shot 50% from the field and has made 5-7 attempts from three. She averaged 6.2 rebounds and two assists in the team's first five games.
 
Maya Fitzpatrick has also been solid for the Wildcats at the guard spot. She has averaged 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.6 steals per game for Wayne State this season. Fitzpatrick scored 21 points in the win against Nebraska-Kearney. She also had six rebounds, two assists, three blocks and two steals in that game.
 
Tate Norblade is Wayne State's third scorer averaging double-digits this season. Norblade is averaging 11.8 points on 45.2 percent field goal shooting. She has had two 14-point performances against Chadron State and Nebraska-Kearney.
 
The Wildcats are coached by Brent Pollari who is in his seventh season at the helm of the WSC women's basketball program. Teams under Pollari have gone 64-87 at Wayne State.
 
Minnesota State has won seven straight games against the Wildcats going back to January 2021. Despite the recent success, the Mavericks trail Wayne State in the all-time series 18-20.
 
 
About the Vikings
After losing the first five games of their season, the Vikings pulled out a win against Hastings College last Wednesday, 87-77. Augustana lost its sole NSIC matchup against Sioux Falls on November 21.
 
Augustana has averaged 66.3 points per game on 38.5% field goal shooting as a team. The Vikings have shot 30.5% from three and 63.2% from the charity stripe this season. The team is averaging 34.5 rebounds, 13.3 assists and 17.3 turnovers per game. Through six games, Augustana has also averaged 9.8 steals and 4.3 blocks per game.
 
Senior guard Hannah Burg is the Vikings' leading scorer in 2024-25. Burg has averaged 15 points per game on 47.5% field goal shooting and 38.1% three-point shooting this season. She is also 24-27 from the free throw line. Burg has averaged 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. She scored 24 points in Augustana's win over Hastings.
 
Olivia Hayenga holds an 11.2-points-per-game average, good for second-best on the team.
 
Nate Vogel was named the new Augustana women's basketball coach in April 2024. Formerly, Vogel was the head coach at Texas A&M International, where he led the Dustdevils to a program-best 25-7 record last season.
 
The Mavericks have also beaten the Vikings seven consecutive times, and like Wayne State, MSU trails Augustana in the all-time series, 36-52.