BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Minnesota State Mavericks (11-16-1, 5-16-1 WCHA) earned a weekend split with a 5-1 victory over Bemijdi State (5-23-1, 3-19 WCHA) Saturday afternoon at the Sanford Center.

The Mavericks struck first late in the opening period, as sophomore JuliAnna Gazdik found the back of the net off assists from senior Alexis Paddington and junior Whitney Tuttle.

The Beavers answered just 31 seconds later with their loan goal of the game, sending the contest into the second period tied at one.

Early in the second period, sophomore Kamryn Van Batavia battled through contact and scored an unassisted, go-ahead goal, putting Minnesota State back in front for good.

The Mavericks broke the game open in the third period, scoring three more goals.

At the 11-minute mark, Paddington extended the lead, capitalizing on a setup from sophomore Jenessa Gazdik and junior Kiana Roeske. Just two minutes later, freshman Bella Shipley found the back of the net off an assist from Tuttle. Paddington sealed the victory with her second goal of the night, scoring in the final minutes off a feed from graduate student Jamie Nelson.

"I thought we gave a consistent effort for sixty minutes. We had players from three different lines score and got a power play goal. Really proud of our team and their response after yesterday's disappointing loss," said head coach Shari Dickerman.

Goaltender Jessie McPherson was stellar between the pipes, stopping 34 of 35 shots to backstop the Mavericks to victory.

Minnesota State returns home next weekend to take on St. Cloud State, with puck drops set for Friday at 3:02 p.m. and Saturday at 2:02 p.m. Next weekend is our annual Diaper Dash to benefit CADA as we invite fans to bring diapers and wipes to donate to this great organization.