MANKATO, Minn. – No. 10 Minnesota State (16-2, 12-0 NSIC) won its 12^th consecutive game in dominating fashion against MSU Moorhead (6-11, 4-7 NSIC) on Friday, 94-66. Six Mavericks reached double figures in the win over the Dragons. Natalie Bremer led all scorers in the game with 17 points on 7-11 shooting and five steals.
 
Minnesota State jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after Destinee Bursch made a turnaround jumper, Ava Stier banked in a three and freshman Rhyan Holmgren made a layup. The Dragons responded with five quick ones of their own to make it a two-point game. The Mavericks over the next two minutes went on an 8-0 run capped off by a layup from Elisabeth Gadient, which gave MSU a 15-5 lead. MSU Moorhead made two three-pointers to cut into the lead, but the Mavericks closed out the first quarter on a 14-3 run that saw scores from six different players and four steals. Minnesota State led 29-14 after 10 minutes.
 
Freshmen Lucy Leininger and Gadient kicked off the second quarter with a pair of two-point jumpers, which gave the home team a 19-point advantage. Bursch made a smooth jumper after a pair of MSUM free throws. Bremer scored her second bucket of the game after she grabbed her own rebound to put the Mavericks up 37-18. Adeline Kent made a three-pointer to give her seven first-half points off a nice assist from Stier following an offensive rebound. Leininger found Stier wide open under the hoop for an easy layup after four free throws on the other end for the Dragons. Out of the media timeout, she hit her second three-pointer of the game and, after an immediate steal, Leininger made a layup to give the Mavericks a 47-24 lead with 4:21 left in the half. Bremer knifed into the lane for a tough layup to put the team up 23. A steal-and-score from Gadient extended the lead for MSU. She had another nice drive to the rim to reach double figures in the first half. Bremer made a layup with seven seconds left to give Minnesota State a 56-30 lead at halftime.
 
MSU shot 56.5% from the field in the first half and made three three-pointers in six attempts. The team forced 21 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and scored 33 points from those takeaways. Minnesota State also dished out 11 first-half assists.
 
Five Mavericks ended the first half with at least eight points. Gadient ended the half with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Stier scored nine first-half points and grabbed seven rebounds. Bremer, Bursch and Leininger each scored eight points in the first half.
 
Karlee Fisher for MSU Moorhead made the first shot of the second half, a three-pointer, to cut into the home lead. The two team's traded buckets back-and-forth until Bursch made a layup and a pair of free throws to put the score at 64-37. The Dragons made a flurry of free throws to make it a 64-41 game with four minutes to play in the third quarter. Bremer sunk a three-pointer off an assist from Holmgren, and Abby Berge made a three on the other end for MSUM. Holmgren made an and-one layup to get the Mavericks up to 70 points on the night. A few possessions later, Kent found her cutting to the rim for an easy look inside, as Holmgren reached double figures for the second time in four games. When the third quarter came to a close, MSU led 77-51.
 
Gadient made a jumper to start the scoring in the fourth. Bremer converted a steal-and-score to put the Mavericks up by 30. Natalie Jens, the Dragons' starting senior guard, sunk a three-pointer with 7:53 remaining in the game. Fisher made an and-one to continue to cut into the MSU lead. Leininger made a fastbreak layup to reach double figures for the fourth time in her freshman campaign. Kent made a three-pointer from the wing to put the Mavericks up 89-61 with 3:07 left in the game. When it was all said and done, Minnesota State defeated the Dragons 94-66.
 
The Mavericks shot 52.1% from the field (38-73 FG) in the win and made 5-11 from three-point land (45.5% 3P). That is the highest three-point shooting percentage for the team all season. Minnesota State forced 33 Dragon turnovers and scored 43 points off turnovers. The team also dominated the paint, outscoring MSUM in that area 58-18.
 
Six players for MSU ended in double figures. Bremer led the way with 17 points and five steals. Bursch tallied 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win. Gadient scored 12 points, had three steals and blocked two shots on defense. Both Holmgren and Kent ended with 11 points each. Leininger scored 10 points on 5-6 field goal shooting and had two steals. Stier also ended one point and one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
MSUM shot 34.5% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. Berge ended with 13 points and Fisher had 12.
 
The Mavericks close out this four-game homestand with a contest against St. Cloud State (10-6, 7-4 NSIC). That game tips off at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 18 in the Taylor Center.