MANKATO — The Minnesota State women’s basketball team celebrated the unveiling of last year’s Division II National championship banner Friday night by overwhelming Southwest Minnesota State 101-83 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game at Bresnan Arena.
Minnesota State (8-2, 4-0 in Northern Sun) exploded for 63 first-half points as 11 different players scored and a swarming defense forced 24 turnovers and madeh 19 steals. The Mavericks connected on 26 of 39 from the field for 66.7% in building a 63-43 advantage.
Junior guard Natalie Bremer scored 15 of her 21 points in the half while senior guard Destinee Bursch tallied 13 of her 20 points.
“It was an incredible opportunity to bring our alums back to celebrate with our fans one more time,” Minnesota State coach Emilee Thiesse said. “It was a fitting day with our soccer team advancing and everything that’s going on with Maverick athletics right now, it’s a special bond. I felt our team really took some steps forward this week in practice and found out who we are and where we’re going.
“I think they came out very hungry and ready to set that tone right away. It felt good to be finally on our home court. We need to continue to clean up some of those turnovers and do better with our decision making so we don’t give it right back. The chemistry is really starting to come and we have a lot of players playing to their strength so I am excited about where we are at.”
Bursch’s eight-point flurry — two back-door cut baskets, a free-throw line jumper layup of a turnover — along with Hannah Herzig’s layup and Bremer’s three-point play put the Mavericks in front 13-4. After a Kenzie Jones’ 3-pointer got the Mustangs (8-2, 2-2) within 15-9, Lilly Nuytten’s 8-footer off the glass ignited a 11-0 run that produced a 26-9 advantage on Ava Stier’s head-on 3-pointer.
“We came out firing right away and had a good start,” sad Bremer, who also had five rebounds and seven steals. “We were able to create some turnovers and then execute off that. We were able to get them to do things that were uncomfortable for them. We were able to make them throw long passes and then pick them off. We came out composed and got that speedy rhythm going. … Everyone on our team is a threat with the ball.”
Herzig’s spin move and 6-footer from in the paint made it 32-23 after one quarter before a 31-19 second-quarter burst continued the onslaught. Junior guard Mackenzie Schweim ended up with 12 points while Herzig chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and four steals as the Mavericks finished with 25 thefts amongst 36 Mustang turnovers.
“I felt a lot of love out there tonight and that helped us through,” said Bursch, who dished out nine assists. “We’ve been preaching about putting 40 minutes together and we’re getting close. We know if our defense is good that our offense will be great. We fed off our defense and our bench is so deep that we can go way deep and trust all of them. That’s a good feeling having people who can come in and give us sparks.”
Minnesota State hosts Sioux Falls at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.