BISMARCK, N.D. – No. 10 Minnesota State () kicked off 2025 with a 69-63 win over UMary (7-3, 4-3 NSIC) on Friday evening. After relinquishing the lead at the end of the third quarter, the team shot 9-10 from the field in the final period to remain undefeated in NSIC play this season. Bursch took over in the final quarter, as the senior from Chaska, Minn. scored 12 points in the fourth, including a step-back three that cemented the Maverick lead until the end. She finished the game with 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
 
Shortly after the opening tip, Natalie Bremer made a pair of fast break shots to get the Mavericks on the board. The Marauders' leading scorer, Bergen Kinnebrew, got the home team on the board as she sunk a three from the top of the key to make it a one-point game. UMary took the lead on a jumper in the paint and made a three-pointer to give the team an 8-4 lead, which forced an MSU timeout. Out of the break, freshman Lucy Leininger sunk a pull-up jumper from the elbow to cut the lead to two. The Marauders converted on a fast break opportunity to extend the lead. After three minutes of no scores from Minnesota State, the Mavericks tied the game at 10-10 thanks to a free throw from Elisabeth Gadient and a three-pointer from Bremer. The junior guard put the team up by two after she scooped in a layup, which forced a timeout call from the home bench. Ryleigh Wacha tied the score with a layup and made a three as the shot clock expired to put the home team up 15-12. Gadient made good on two shots at the charity stripe and made a jumper as time expired to give MSU a 16-15 lead after 10 minutes.
 
After UMary opened the second quarter with a layup following an offensive rebound, Destinee Bursch got on the board with a layup to put the Mavericks up 18-17. Kinnebrew set her teammate for an easy layup inside to swing the advantage back to the Marauders. Bursch made a layup off her own miss and Gadient sunk a two-pointer from the elbow to put the team up three. Mackenzie Schweim scored her first bucket of the game after Ava Stier grabbed an offensive rebound to put MSU up 24-19. Bursch made another tough basket in the lane to put the Mavericks up by seven, which forced UMary to call a timeout. Stier made both free throws on a trip to the line to extend the Minnesota State lead to nine. After six minutes of scoreless play, the Kinnebrew made a fast break layup to make it a seven-point game. Adeline Kent made a perfect pass to a cutting Gadient, who scooped the ball under the hoop and made a nice reverse layup to get the Mavericks to 30 points on the day. Wacha hit a nice turnaround jump shot for the Marauders after a missed free throw from the Mavericks to cut the deficit to seven. Wacha found a teammate inside to make the score 31-26 at the end of the first half.
 
Minnesota State made just one third of its shot attempts in the first half against UMary. The team ended the half with eight steals and scored 14 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Bremer and Gadient both ended the first half with nine points. Bursch had six points in the first half and Stier ended the half with eight rebounds.
 
The Marauders got on the board first in the second half with a layup from Wacha. The Mavericks responded by pushing the ball up the court, which allowed Bursch to find Schweim for an easy layup in the paint. UMary cut the Maverick lead to three, but Bremer made a turnaround jumper in the lane to extend it back to five. After the defense forced a miss, Bursch raced up the court and made a little jumper from the block. Kinnebrew found Wacha for her third made three of the game to make the score 37-33. Bremer made a nice reverse layup under the rim, and after the Marauders scored a bucket on the other end, Gadient nailed a jumper from a step inside the free throw line to make it 41-35. Moriku Hakim for UMary converted an and-one opportunity to put the score at 42-40. She made two more free throws following a shooting foul to tie up the score. The Marauders took the lead right at the end of the quarter thanks to a layup set up by Kinnebrew on the fast break, 45-44.
 
Leininger jumped a passing lane, stole the ball and drove in for a layup to swing the lead back into the favor of the Mavericks. Kinnebrew made a three-pointer on the other end to give UMary the lead, then she made another jumper to extend the home team's lead to four. Bremer made a jumper to cut the lead to two, but the Marauders scored a pair of baskets to extend their lead to six, which forced a timeout from the Minnesota State bench. Bursch made a tough and-one jumper out of the break and made the free throw to cut the deficit to three. After a defensive stop, Bursch drove down the court and made another tough layup to make it a one-point game. After UMary made two free throws, Kent scooped in a layup to cut it back to one, but the Marauders made a layup of their own to push the lead back to three.
 
Bremer made a nice up-and-under move for a layup to make it a one-point game. She tied up the score with a free throw and took the lead with another after getting hammered on an inside shot. Bursch made a step-back three from the wing to extend the Maverick lead to four, but Hakim made a layup after a nice entry pass to cut it to a one-possession game. Bursch found Schweim for a three-pointer, which the Mankato native sunk to put the Mavericks up five. The Marauders scored on their next possession. After a timeout, Bursch made a tough bucket to put the team back up by five. Gadient fouled out on the next possession, as she caught Ava Interrante on a three-point shot, but the Marauder guard only made one of the three attempts from the charity stripe. Bremer blocked a three-point attempt from Wacha with 13 seconds left. The Marauders got off one more shot, but Bursch grabbed the rebound and made both free throws after getting fouled. Minnesota State won 69-63 after missing just one shot in the fourth quarter.
 
The Mavericks shot 46.4% from the field against UMary, making three three-pointers and 14-22 from the charity stripe. Both teams grabbed 42 rebounds.
 
Bursch led all scorers with 20 points and shot 8-14 from the field. The senior guard also ended with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Bremer was right behind her, finishing with 19 points on 8-13 shooting and three steals. Gadient scored 13 and tallied four rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks before fouling out. While she only scored five points, Stier led all players with 12 rebounds, a new career high.
 
UMary shot 35.8% from the field and made five threes. The team shot just 10-21 from the free throw line. Wacha led the team with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Kinnebrew scored 15 points and had five rebounds. Both players fouled out.
 
"We found ourselves in the fourth quarter and were able to lean on Maverick defense to get some key stops," said Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse following the win. "Our rebounding effort in that stretch was clutch and allowed us the opportunity to convert on the offensive end and turn things around."
 
Minnesota State plays its second game of the new year tomorrow afternoon, December 4. The Mavericks will travel to Minot State to take on the Beavers (4-10, 3-4), who defeated Winona State on Friday night. The game will start at 3:30 p.m. in the Minot State Dome.