SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The #21 ranked Minnesota State women's basketball team (24-5) won its second round NSIC Tournament matchup against MSU Moorhead (13-16), 101-74. NSIC Defensive Player of the Year, Joey Batt, had a double-double with 17 points and a career-high 10 assists. Natalie Bremer and Destinee Bursch combined for 41 points against the Dragons. It was the fifth time the team reached 100 points this season.

Minnesota State got out to an early 6-0 lead after forcing a pair of turnovers that resulted in easy scores from Bremer and Batt, but the Dragons' Natalie Jens sunk a three for MSU Moorhead's first points of the contest. Four free throws for the Dragons would give them a one-point advantage over the Mavericks. Bursch would take the lead back with a layup and Emily Herzberg sunk two threes to give the Mavericks a 16-7 lead over the Dragons. Batt would find Emily Russo wide open cutting towards the rim for a layup for the dime. Batt would find the bottom of the net the next possession with a layup to put the Mavericks up 22-8.  Bremer made a deep two-pointer to make the score 24-10 after a Dragons layup. The first quarter ended with the score 24-13 after a pair of MSU Moorhead free throws.

The Dragons' Abby Berge made a layup to start scoring in the second quarter. Ava Stier responded with a deep jumper to give the Mavericks an 11-point lead. After Jens hit a two for the Dragons, Bursch swished a three-pointer from the wing to give the Mavericks a 29-17 lead. After corralling a rebound, Batt sprinted down the court and sank a pull-up elbow jumper to give Minnesota State a 14-point lead, forcing a MSU Moorhead timeout.

The Dragons' Ashley Gustavson hit a three out of the timeout. The Mavericks pushed the ball down the floor after the make, allowing Herzberg to hit a wide-open shot in the corner for her third three of the game. Gustavson responded with a three of her own to cut back into the Maverick lead. After trading scores back and forth, the Dragons went on a 8-0 run to cut the Maverick advantage to seven. After a missed free throw for Russo, Bursch grabbed the offensive rebound and found Grace Mueller, who sunk a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Mavericks a 46-33 lead. A tough layup scored by Bailey Keske for the Dragons cut the lead to 11. Bursch hit a deep two-pointer with :20 on the clock to give the Mavericks a 48-35 lead heading into the locker room.

The Mavericks shot 47% from the field in the first half. The team made five of its nine three-point attempts and shot 9-10 from the charity stripe. Minnesota State had 12 assists to just three turnovers in the first half. The team had seven steals and scored 15 points off turnovers.

Bursch ended the first half with 15 points. She shot 4-6 from the floor, making her only three-point attempt and all six of her free throws. The Chaska, Minn. native also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the first half. Herzberg's nine points all came from behind the three-point line, where she shot 3-4 in the first half. Batt had eight points, four assists and two steals in the first half.

MSU Moorhead made one third of its shots in the first half, making 5-20 from three and 6-8 from the free throw line. The Dragons had the advantage on the glass in the first half, outrebounding the Mavericks 23-21 through the first 20 minutes. Jens led the Dragons in scoring with nine points, two rebounds and three assists in the first.

A quick back-cut from Batt opened herself up to a dime from Bursch, resulting in an easy layup to start the second half. Batt would find a streaking Bremer for an easy layup after a Dragon miss to put Minnesota State up 52-37 with 8:23 left in the quarter. Karlee Fisher hit an and-one three for the Dragons to cut the Maverick lead to 11. Russo would swing the ball over to Herzberg who made her fourth three-pointer of the night, extending the MSU lead to 55-43. A steal from Batt set Hannah Herzig up for an easy fast break score for the Mavericks with 6:15 left in the third. After forcing a five-second turnover on the Dragon inbound, Mueller found Bursch for the easy score to put Minnesota State up 62-45.

After both teams trading scores, Mueller would find Bursch again for an easy layup and Batt would find Herzberg for another three, putting the Mavericks up 69-47 and forcing a MSU Moorhead timeout with just under three minutes left in the quarter. Bremer would go on a personal 7-0 run after the timeout, sinking a deep three and making a layup on a dime from Batt, her eighth assist of the game. Herzberg made an and-one layup to give the Mavericks a 31-point lead. Batt hit a step back three to end the third quarter. The Mavericks led after three, 84-52. It was a 36-point third quarter for Minnesota State.

The Dragons scored a driving layup to start scoring in the final quarter. Stier made a layup, assisted by Batt; this was Batt's 10^th assist, giving her a double-double and a new career-high. Bailey Conrad nailed a three-pointer to put the Mavericks up 93-58 with 7:44 left in the game. A jumper from Mueller put the Mavericks over the century mark, 100-64. As time trickled out, the Mavericks defeated the Dragons by a score of 101-74.

The Mavericks shot a 54% field goal percentage (37-69 FG), 59% from three-point range (10-17 3FG) and made 81% of their free throws (17-21 FT). Minnesota State dished out 28 assists, the second highest from the team this season, while turning the ball over just seven times. The team forced 20 Dragon turnovers and finished with 13 steals. The Mavericks scored 32 points off turnovers and 44 points in the paint against MSU Moorhead.

Bremer led the Mavericks with 21 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. Bursch ended with 20 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Batt ended with her second double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and dishing out 10 assists. Batt also had two steals against the Dragons. Herzberg finished with 18 points, tying her season high.

MSU Moorhead shot 37% from the field (24-65 FG) against the Mavericks, making 27% of its threes (8-30 3FG) and 82% of its free throws (18-22 FT). The Dragons outrebounded the Mavericks, 42-35, and scored 16 second chance points. Jens was the leading scorer for the Dragons, dropping 11 points, three rebounds and five assists.

The Mavericks advance to the third round of the NSIC Tournament. The team will face either Southwest Minnesota State or Northern State on Monday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m. Minnesota State went 2-0 against the Mustangs this season. The Wolves were the most recent loss on the Mavericks' schedule, snapping the record-breaking 19-game win streak in Aberdeen on Feb. 17.