ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Minnesota State women's basketball (31-5) advanced to the NCAA DII National Championship after defeating Cal State San Marcos in the semifinal round of the national tournament. The national championship game features a rematch between the Mavericks and Texas Woman's University (34-4).
 
How To Follow Along: The National Championship game will commence on Friday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. TWU holds the second seed in the tournament. Minnesota State is the fifth seed. The game can be viewed on the CBS Sports Network and a radio call from Dan Brookens on 1230 The Fan.
 
About the Mavericks
Final Four Recap: Minnesota State advanced to the National Championship after defeating Cal State San Marcos in the Final Four, 70-68, in a tightly contested game that came down to the final seconds. There were seven ties and 11 lead changes in the matchup, including six lead shifts in the final five minutes of the game. Sophomore guard Natalie Bremer scored a season-high 29 points in the win to lead all players and dished out the game-winning assist to Emily Herzberg, who put the Mavericks up with 0.3 seconds remaining to secure the win. Herzberg ended with 13 points against the Cougars.
 
A Short Trip Down Memory Lane: Minnesota State is playing in its second National Championship game. The last time the Mavericks were in the national tournament final was in 2008-09. The Mavericks went on to win the National Title that season. That season, MSU played Franklin Pierce in the championship game, defeating the Ravens in the highest scoring game in NCAA DII National Championship history, 103-94. Heather Johnson scored 29 points on 65% field goal shooting and Alex Andrews had a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
 
All-American Baller: Joey Batt is officially an All-American. She was named to the WBCA All-America First Team and the D2CCA All-America Third Team. She is averaging 16.2 points per game shooting 45% from the field and 36% from deep, 2.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.6 steals per game in 2023-24.  She ranks fourth in the country in both total steals (110) and steals per game. The Minnesota State guard is having an even better postseason, scoring 18.5 points per game during the team's last eight games. Batt is the second-leading scorer in program history (1,927) and the is the all-time steals leader (374).
 
Sophomore Stud: Natalie Bremer was in rare form against the Cougars, but that level of play has shown up in flashes all season. The sophomore from Lake City, Minnesota has nine 20-point performances in 2023-24. She scored a career-high 30 points in a game against UMary last season. Bremer, in the game against Cal State San Marcos, became the 26^th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points in her career.
 
National Rankings: The Mavericks are one of the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers on defense, while also having one of the best offenses in the game. The team ranks first in turnover margin (+13), and second in turnovers forced per game (28) and steals (17). Minnesota State has the fourth-best scoring offense (82.8/game) and fourth-highest scoring margin (19.5) in the country. The Mavericks are also prolific on the offensive glass, creating the 11^th most second-chances in Division II and averaging 16 offensive rebounds per game. The team ranks 29^th in assists per game (15.5) and 24^th in free throws made per game (15.3).
 
Doubled Up: Minnesota State has had four double doubles this season. Joey Batt recorded two, the first a 26-point-10-steal performance in a dominate win over Wayne State, the second was against MSU Moorhead in the NSIC Tournament, when she dished out 10 assists and scored 17 in the Mavericks' win. Both her steals and assists numbers were career-highs. Destinee Bursch scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Bemidji State. Natalie Bremer scored 18 points and had a career-high 10 rebounds in the Central Region Semifinal against Fort Hays State.
 
Hot Out Of The Locker Room: The Mavericks are playing their best basketball in the first and third quarters of games this season. Minnesota State is outscoring opponents 799-546 in the first quarter throughout the season and 787-567 in the third. Overall, the team has outscored teams 2980-2277.
 
Milestones In The Rear-View: In the game against CSUSM, the Mavericks reached several different milestones. As previously mentioned, Natalie Bremer scored her 1,000^th point on a jumper in the fourth quarter, becoming the 26^th Maverick to reach that mark. Destinee Bursch officially moved into 10^th place in all-time scoring in Minnesota State history, with 1,341 points scored in her career. As a team, the Mavericks have forced over 1,000 turnovers this season, a total of 1,008.
 
500 Club: Minnesota State's "Killer B" trio of Batt, Bremer and Bursch have each scored 500 points individually this season. Batt surpassed 500 points scored in 2023-24 in the Final Four game against the Cougars, currently with 501 points this year. Bremer has scored 552 points this season, with Bursch having scored 550.
 
Taking Charity: Minnesota State's 550 free throws made this season is a new school record, besting the 498 free throws made in 2013-14. The team is shooting 72.3% from the charity stripe.
 
Coaching Legend: Head Coach Emilee Thiesse reached the 200-win mark against Sioux Falls on Dec. 1. She is the second head coach in program history to reach this milestone. Coach Thiesse's teams have now made the NCAA Tournament five times (2012-13, 2014-15, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24). She is the second head coach in program history to win conference Coach of the Year honors, winning the award for the second time this season. The Mavericks went on a program-record 19-game winning streak between Nov. 25 and Feb. 10., winning each game by an average of over 25 points per contest. This is Coach Thiesse's sixth 20-win season and the first team under Thiesse to win 20 conference games. Minnesota State also broke the program record for steals in a game, with 31 against Wayne State, as well as the single-game points record, scoring 123 points in a win over Minnesota Crookston in the team's final homestand.
 
Fun With Numbers: The season box score for Minnesota State features a few eye-popping numbers including:
   •  Minnesota State has 200 more offensive rebounds than its opponents (574-369).
   •  Minnesota State has made 550 free throws this season... Its opponents have attempted just 622.
   •  Minnesota State has 301 more field goals made (1,117) than its opponents have made (816).
   •  Minnesota State has attempted 618 more field goals (2,603) than its opponents (1,985).
   •  50 percent of Minnesota State's made field goals have an assist credited to them (558 assists, 1,117 field goals made).
   •  The Mavericks have 205 more offensive rebounds (574) than their opponents (369).
   •  During the postseason, opponents have 98 more turnovers (215) than the Mavericks (117).
   •  Minnesota State has 61 more steals (119) than its opponents (58) through eight postseason games.
   •  Opponents are shooting just 27.5% from three against Minnesota State in the postseason (46-167 3FG)
   •  The team has made 55 more field goals (241) than its opponents (186) in postseason play.
 
 
About the Pioneers
Familiar Faces: Texas Woman's played Minnesota State in its second game of the season, defeating the Mavericks 76-71 at the MSU Billings Tournament in early November 2023. That game was the first matchup between the two programs.
 
Team Info: The Pioneers have amassed a 34-4 record in 2023-24. The team went 20-2 in Lone Star Conference play, which was the best record in either the East or West Divisions. TWU defeated Daemen and Ferris State to get to the National Championship game. The Pioneers defeated the Wildcats 76-44 in the Elite Eight and took down the Bulldogs 68-52 in their Final Four game. Texas Woman's is in Denton, Texas, which is northwest of Dallas. This will be the first time TWU has ever played in a National Championship game.
 
Pioneers Who Pioneer: TWU's star player, Ashley Ingram, is having an excellent season. In 38 games for the Pioneers, Ingram averaged 18.2 points, nine rebounds, four assists, half a block and one steal per game this season. She has nearly 60% field goal percentage and an 84% free throw percentage. Ingram was named a WBCA First Team All-American in 2023-24. She was named to the All-American Honorable Mention list last season. Leila Patel and Scout Huffman are both averaging over 10 points per game for the Pioneers. Patel is averaging 13.7 points per game while shooting 35% from deep. Huffman is averaging about 10.5 points per game.
 
On The Sidelines: TWU is coached by Beth Jillson, who is about to wrap up her 17^th season in Denton. Jillson has led Texas Woman's to five NCAA Tournament appearances. She is the winningest coach in program history, with a record of 272-207.