MANKATO, Minn. – No. 10 Minnesota State (17-2, 13-0 NSIC) defeated the Huskies of St. Cloud State (10-7, 7-5 NSIC) 96-87 on Saturday evening to win its 13^th-straight game of the season. The Mavericks jumped out to a big lead early, but SCSU had a huge third quarter to get right back into the game. Six Maverick players ended in double figures, including junior guard Natalie Bremer, who finished the game with 27 points on 11-18 shooting.
 
The Huskies got on the board first after two minutes of scoreless action. A minute later, Elisabeth Gadient got the Mavericks on the board with a clean jumper to tie it up. Destinee Bursch put the home team up 4-2 with a pair of makes at the free throw line. Lucy Leininger nailed a corner three off a nice inbound pass to put Minnesota State up 7-2 with 5:32 in the quarter. The next time down the court, the ball swung to Adeline Kent who drove the rock inside for a layup to put her team up by seven. Bremer found Bursch right under the hoop and she put it up for an and-one layup, which gave Minnesota State a 12-2 lead. She scored again on a fastbreak created by a Gadient steal which forced a Husky timeout. Bremer nailed two three-pointers in a row to give the Mavericks a 20-4 lead with 2:07 left to play in the first quarter. Gadient drove inside and found an open Ava Stier through the Husky zone for an easy layup. Gadient made two free throws at the line to put the team up 20, then stole the ball off the inbound and laid it up for two more. Bursch hit a turnaround jumper to give Minnesota State a 28-4 lead. She hit another jumper as time expired on the quarter to make it a 30-4 game after 10 minutes. St. Cloud State turned the ball over 13 times in the first quarter.
 
Rhyan Holmgren made an excellent pass to a cutting Bursch for an easy layup to reach three assists on the day. After the Huskies made a three, Kent made a tough jumper in the lane to put MSU up 34-9. Alana Zarneke made her third shot of the game before Leininger drove in for a nice layup on the other end. St. Cloud State's Reagan Briggs hit the second three-pointer of the quarter to cut into the Maverick lead, but Leininger found Kent cutting to the rim to make it 38-14 with 7:34 left in the first half. Leininger posted up the Huskies and made an and-one jumper to make it a 27-point game. Gadient inbounded a nice assist to Bremer who laid it in for two. On offense, Bursch made a nice back cut to the rim and Gadient found her for an easy layup. Kent was fouled on a Stockton layup and made the free throw to put MSU up 49-22 with 2:39 left in the quarter. Bremer made her fourth shot of the evening with a floater as the shot clock expired, then she made another jumper after a Husky turnover. Kylan Gerads made an and-one layup, but Bremer made one of her own on the other end off a nice interior pass from Bursch. She immediately stole the ball off the inbound and put it back up for another layup. Kent picked up a loose ball and drove it in for her fifth make in five shots. The Huskies made a couple of shots at the end of the half to make it a 60-31 game headed into halftime.
 
Minnesota State shot an outstanding 61.5% from the field in the first half and made three of its seven three-point attempts. The team forced 22 Husky turnovers in the first 20 minutes and scored 30 points from those takeaways. As a team, the Mavericks dished out 12 assists and grabbed 17 rebounds in the first half.
 
Bremer led the way with 17 first-half points on 7-10 shooting. Bursch was right behind her with 15 points through the first two quarters. Kent also reached double figures, as she tallied 11 points and three steals in the first half. Gadient led the team with four steals and two blocks and scored seven points in the half. 
 
Holmgren found Bursch wide open for an easy layup inside. The Huskies responded with a quick 10-2 run, as Zarneke sunk two shots from beyond the arc to make it 64-41. She hit another one to cut the Maverick lead to 21 with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter. The Mavericks' second field goal came after Leininger stole the ball and found Shantell Harden for her first two points of the game. Gerads made a layup to cut the Maverick lead to 16 and the Huskies made a fastbreak layup to make it 67-53 after a 22-7 start to the second half. Gadient drove in the lane for a layup to reach double figures with 3:49 left in the quarter. The Huskies cut their deficit to 10 on a layup from Zarneke. Kristi Kottke made her second three of the quarter to cut the score to 71-64 with 1:37 left. Ava Stier was fouled on a layup and swished the free throw to put MSU back up by 11. Kottke sunk another three with six seconds left to send the game to the fourth quarter with a 76-68 score. The Huskies scored 37 points in the third quarter.
 
Bremer made the first field goal of the fourth quarter after the Huskies made a couple of shots at the free throw line to keep it an eight-point game. Jada Eggebrecht made a corner three off the inbound to cut the deficit to five. Gerands cut the Maverick lead to three with a layup inside with 7:34 left in regulation. Out of an MSU timeout, Bremer drove the ball in for a layup and then scored another after a Husky turnover to put the Mavericks up seven. Eggebrecht scored on a runaway steal but Bursch made a layup inside to get those points right back. Zarneke made a three-pointer to make it a one-possession game with 5:18 left in the quarter. Leininger made a layup in response off an offensive rebound and she made another in transition after a steal. Stier drove it in for a layup after Gerads scored after in offensive board on the other end. Bursch made a nice up-and-under move which freed her up to hit a floater in the lane to maintain a seven-point advantage for MSU. She found Bremer cutting to the rim for another lay-in to put Minnesota State up by nine with 1:52 left in regulation. Stier made a layup and that was good enough for the win, as the Mavericks completed the four-win homestand with a 96-87 win over St. Cloud State.
 
Minnesota State shot 39-71 from the field (54.9% FG), made three three-pointers (27.3% 3P) and made 15-19 from the free throw line (78.9% FT) in its 13^th consecutive win this season. The team scored 40 points off turnovers and dished out 18 assists and grabbed 26 rebounds.
 
Six Mavericks ended in double figures. Bremer led all scorers with 27 points on 11-18 shooting from the floor. She also had three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in the win. Bursch scored 21 points, dished out five assists and ended with two steals. Stier scored 13 points and led the team with six rebounds. Leininger and Kent scored 12 and 11, respectively, off the bench. Gadient fouled out with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals. Leininger also had four steals.
 
St. Cloud State shot an even 50% from the field and made 40% of its looks from deep. The Huskies outrebounded MSU 48-26. Gerads led the way for the team with 22 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Zarneke ended with 21 points. Kottke scored 17 points and Eggebrecht totaled 14.
 
Minnesota State plays one game next week. The Mavericks will travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to take on Northern State (11-7, 8-4 NSIC) on January 24 at 7:30 p.m.