MANKATO, Minn. – The No. 25 Mavericks (21-5, 17-3 NSIC) throttled the Marauders (14-10, 11-9 NSIC) in their final home game of the 2024-25 regular season, 91-75. Minnesota State set a program record with 46 forced turnovers in the win. Junior guard Natalie Bremer was nearly perfect as she finished with 23 points on 9-11 field goal shooting. In her final home game, senior Destinee Bursch was outstanding as well, as she totaled 21 points with four rebounds, three assists and five steals.
 
Bursch made a layup to tie the game back up following a Marauder bucket to open the game, which was the last lead UMary had. Hannah Herzig gave the Mavericks their first lead of the game with a layup, and back-to-back baskets from Bremer and Lucy Leininger put the team up 9-4 early. After a pair of free throw makes from UMary, the Mavericks raced up the court and Bremer pulled up for her second jumper of the game. She hit a three off an assist from Elisabeth Gadient, but the Marauders answered with a pair of layups to bring it within two. Herzig got a steal and took it inside for a score, then stole the ball again and dished it to Adeline Kent for a fastbreak layup. Ava Stier hit a shot, then on the next time down, Herzig grabbed an offensive board and put it back up for another second-chance bucket for the home team. Bursch made a smooth move and made a reverse layup to send the Mavericks into the second quarter up 28-13. MSU ended the quarter on a 10-0 run.
 
Bremer hit a three for the first basket of the second, but the Marauders got a bucket of their own shortly after breaking the Maverick press. Bursch hit a baseline jumper to put MSU up 33-15. UMary hit a three, then both teams traded free throws back-and-forth until Bremer made another two-point jumper from the top of the key. It was her fifth make in six attempts. She and Leininger made baskets to give MSU a 21-point lead with 5:58 left in the half. Bergen Kinnebrew and the Marauders went on an 8-0 run to cut into the Maverick lead, but Bursch made a jumper in retaliation. Herzig dribbled through the lane and pulled up for two, then a few possessions later, she found Bursch for an open shot in the corner. Bremer stole the ball away off an inbound and put it up for an easy layup, then Bursch hit another smooth jumper for two to close out the half on a 6-0 run. Minnesota State led 51-33 at halftime.
 
The Mavericks shot 53.8% from the field in the first half and made one-third of its three-point attempts. The team forced 27 first-half Marauder turnovers and scored 25 points from those takeaways.
 
Bremer had 16 points on 7-8 shooting in the first half along with two steals on defense. Bursch scored 13 points in the first half on 6-12 shooting. Herzig ended the first two quarters with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and six steals. She was a perfect 4-4 from the field.
 
Minot State made half of its field goal attempts and shot 3-8 from the three-point line in the first half. Kinnebrew ended the half with nine points.
 
Herzig found Bursch bolting to the rim after a Maverick steal for the first bucket of the second half, but Kinnebrew made her second three of the game back the other way in response. The Marauders hit another two shots from deep to make it an 11-point game to force an MSU timeout. Leininger caught an interior pass and then dished it out to Bremer for her third make from deep of the game. The ball was bouncing around the half-court before Stier found Leininger under the rim for an easy look inside that put the home team up by 16. Gadient was fouled on a layup after a steal but missed the free throw before UMary scored five straight points to cut into the lead. Bremer made another shot from deep off a dime from Leininger, then a trio of made free throw put Minnesota State up 20 with under two minutes to go in the third. Mallory Czinano came up big on back-to-back defensive possessions, turning a steal and a block into quick points for her guards, Gadient and Bursch. The Mavericks led 71-50 after three quarters of play.
 
The ball was skipping around until Bursch found Herzig under the rim for her first basket of the second half. Bursch stole the ball away from her opponent and then cruised for an easy two at the hoop to give MSU a 25-point lead. She had another layup after two Marauder layups, but UMary made a couple more shots to cut the deficit to less than 20. Stier grabbed an offensive board and put it back up for two, then she put it up for two more after waiting for her defender to fly by to put the Mavericks up 81-58 with 6:05 left in regulation. The final five minutes were very back-and-forth with bench players in.
 
Senior forward Emily Russo checked in for an emotional second; the team's leading rebounder between 2021-2023 has been sidelined due to an injury sustained in Minnesota State's Final Four game last season.
 
UMary closed out the game on a 16-10 run. Minnesota State won 91-75. The team made 37-72 from the field (51.4% FG) in the win, including four three-point makes (30.8% 3P) and 13-21 from the free throw line (61.9% FT). The Mavericks scored 45 points from turnovers, 50 points in the paint and 19 fast-break points. MSU's defense forced 46 turnovers, the most in a single game in program history.
 
Bremer was incredible, with 23 points on 9-11 shooting, she was a perfect 4-4 from three-point range. She had two steals and two rebounds in the game. Bursch in her final home game was also terrific, as she tallied 21 points on 10-16 shooting. The senior guard had five steals, three assists and four boards as well. Herzig was the only other Maverick in double figures as she ended with 10 points, a team-high eight steals, a block, four rebounds and three assists. She shot 5-7 from the floor.
 
Stier scored eight points and Gadient had seven. Czinano, Kent, Rhyan Holmgren, Shantell Harden and Lilly Nuytten each scored four points.
 
UMary shot 55.6% from the field but ended the game with 27 fewer shot attempts than MSU. The team made 11 from deep and shot 14-19 from the free throw line (73.7% FT). Kinnebrew was the Marauder's leading scorer with 12 points. Emily Jaenke scored 10 points off the bench.
 
Minnesota State's regular season wraps up next week on the road. First, on Friday, February 21, the Mavericks take on St. Cloud State (13-12, 10-10 NSIC) at 7:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall. The following day, Saturday, February 22, MSU is on the road against MSU Moorhead (12-14, 10-10 NSIC). That game is played at 5:30 p.m. in Nemzek Fieldhouse.