ABERDEEN, S.D. – The #14 Mavericks (21-5, 18-2 NSIC) fell to the Northern State Wolves (19-7, 15-5 NSIC) Saturday evening, 92-87. The loss ends a 19-game winning streak for Minnesota State, the longest in program history. Senior guard Joey Batt scored a career-high 33 points and four steals against the Wolves. Northern State had four players score 17-plus. The game had eight lead changes and five ties.

The Wolves and Mavericks traded baskets back and forth to begin the game. Alayna Benike drained a three to give NSU a 5-4 lead early. Destinee Bursch responded with a pull up jumper for two and Grace Mueller made two free throws to give Minnesota State a 8-5 lead.

Rianna Fillipi made a pair of free throws with 1:54 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 17-17 and Brylie Schultz made a jumper to give the Wolves the lead. Batt tied the game back up at 19-19, scoring a reverse layup on the feed from Emily Herzberg. Northern State made four free throws to give the Wolves a 23-19 advantage, but Batt swished a three with 0:19 left in the quarter to cut the deficit to one heading into the second.

After Herzberg made a pull up jumper to flip the lead, scores from Madelyn Bragg and Benike extended the NSU lead to four. Batt made and converted an and-one layup with 7:18 left in the first half to cut the Northern State lead to one.

Here, the Wolves went on a 16-4 run, shooting 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the three-point line. Decontee Smith was a huge part of this stretch for NSU, scoring eight points. Smith hit a three with 3:56 left in the second quarter to put Northern State up 44-31.

Batt returned the favor, making a three-pointer and two free throws to cut the lead back to eight points. Taylor Theusch sunk a three of her own to cut the deficit to five with 1:36 left in the half. Batt scored a layup with 0:05 left, making the score 46-42, Wolves, heading into halftime.

Minnesota State shot 34% from the field in the first half. The Mavericks made three of its eight three-point attempts in the first half and shot 15-19 from the free throw line. MSU had 11 steals in the first half and scored 18 points off turnovers.

Batt had a stellar first half, scoring 19 points on 6-10 field goal shooting. She had three rebounds and two steals through the first two quarters. Emily Russo had six points and four rebounds in the first half. Herzberg had five points, three rebounds and three steals.

Northern State shot a 46% field goal percentage in the first half, making five threes and 11-12 from the charity stripe. The Wolves outrebounded the Mavericks 27-17 in the first half and scored 17 second chance points.

The Wolves had three players in double figures after the first half. Benike and Fillipi each had 11 points. Smith score 10 in the first half. Both Smith and Fillipi had six rebounds in the first half.

Minnesota State pulled ahead early in the second half, taking a 50-48 lead on a jumper from Batt. The Wolves went on a two and a half minute, 8-0 run to take back the lead 56-50. After a pair of free throws from Batt, the Wolves went on another two-minute, 7-0 run, giving Northern State a 63-52 lead with 2:05 left to play in the third quarter. The Mavericks were able to gain six points back before the end of the quarter, Northern State entered the fourth quarter with a 63-58 lead.

Abbey Holmes and Smith would push the Northern State lead back up to double digits early in the fourth quarter. Another pair of Wolf scores brought the NSU lead to 12 with 7:22 left in the game. Minnesota State made a quick 8-2 push to try and cut into that lead, but the Wolves would resist, going on an 8-0 run of their own to give themselves an 82-68 cushion heading into the final two and a half minutes of regulation.

Natalie Bremer would hit a turn around and-one jumper with 2:42 left in the game to cut the Northern State lead to 11. Batt sunk a three-pointer and Bremer made two free throws to cut the lead to eight. Batt would drive in for a layup, but immediately commit her fifth foul of the game on the NSU inbound, ending her night. From there on out, the Wolves were able to close out the game, handing Minnesota State its first loss since late Nov. 2023. Northern State won 92-87.

Minnesota State shot just 28-77 from the field (36% FG) against the Wolves. The Mavericks made 30% of its three-point attempts and made 25-29 from the free throw line. Despite grabbing 20 offensive rebounds, the Mavericks were only able to score 13 second chance points. MSU had 17 steals and forced 24 Northern State turnovers.

Batt scored a career-high 33 points against Northern State, shooting 11-20 from the field, three of five from three-point range and making all eight of her free throw attempts. She had five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Bremer ended with 19 points and four rebounds.

The Wolves shot 49% from the field against Minnesota State. The team outrebounded the Mavericks 45-40, dominating the defensive glass. Northern State finished with 18 assists as a team. NSU had 29 of its points come from bench players.

Bragg was the Wolves' leading scorer, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block. Fillipi and Smith each ended with 18 points. Fillipi had a double-double with 11 rebounds and five assists; she also fouled out. Smith had seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Benike had 17 points and four rebounds.

"Incredible game tonight by the Wolves," said Mavericks head coach Emilee Thiesse. "Unfortunately, we just didn't have the edge about us that we have maintained so well over this long stretch. I'm proud that our team has kept that edge for as long as we have; that is a very difficult thing to do consistently."

Coach Thiesse believes that the team will rally after this loss: "The best thing we can take from this game is that great teams will respond when we don't bring our best focus along with our best effort. I believe in this team and our leadership. I know we will learn from this and use it as fuel heading into the final stretch of the season."

The Mavericks are back home to close out the regular season against Minnesota Crookston (9-17, 6-14 NSIC) and Bemidji State (6-18, 3-17 NSIC). Minnesota State plays the Golden Eagles on Friday, Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. and will take on the Beavers the following day at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be played at the Taylor Center in Mankato.