MANKATO — The winning streak hit 24 games, but by no accounts was it a cakewalk.
The last time Minnesota State women’s basketball played Southwest Minnesota State, it won 94-49, forcing 51 turnovers to improve to 12-0.
The two collided again at Taylor Center Saturday. The No. 2 Mavericks forced 41 turnovers to improve to 24-0.
This time it was a 79-71 win over the Mustangs in front of 3,427 fans while becoming the last undefeated team left in Division II. Reigning national champion Grand Valley State suffered its first loss of the season, falling 78-77 to Wayne State (Mich.) Saturday.
“It honestly doesn’t feel real,” MSU senior Hannah Herzig said. “Our goal has never been to just be undefeated the entire season. It’s been to get better each time and continue to raise our standard. Being undefeated is just a result of that.”
Clinging to a 75-71 lead with 70 seconds left, the Mustangs inbounded the ball. Herzig came up with her second steal of the game, ripping the ball free from SMSU’s Allie Haabala.
It wound up being her biggest steal of the game, and arguably her biggest steal of the season. She immediately snagged the ball and connected for a layup. It was Herzig’s fourth basket of the game, and it proved to be the dagger, giving MSU a 77-71 lead with 1:04 remaining.
In that moment, as MSU head coach Emilee Thiesse explained, the easy way out would’ve been to play soft and simply contain the Mustangs. Instead, Herzig had the aggressive mindset to make a play with the game and 24-0 hanging in the balance.
“We know Hannah’s so good and so crafty at that,” Thiesse said. “She knows her abilities to be able to get us (a turnover) without picking up a foul or putting us in a position to chase. That’s what seniors do.”
Much like the Mavericks have done all season, their defense suffocated the life out of the opposition’s offense. The same thing happened again Saturday.
MSU forced seven turnovers which turned into 11 points as part of a 16-0 run which forced SMSU to call timeout to reconfigure its plans. A total of 4:59 of game clock had expired at that point. MSU led 16-2.
The Mustangs didn’t yield.
With 4:32 left in the third quarter the Mavericks called timeout trailing 47-46. A stretch where undefeated MSU made 9 of 41 shots while the Mustangs hit 6 of 12 from beyond the arc and went 18 of 33 from the field despite committing 20 turnovers.
“They handled the pressure much better,” Thiesse said of the Mustangs. “They spread us out a little bit more. They attacked in the half court way better too.”
The Mavericks responded by claiming 14 of the third quarter’s final 21 points, forcing six turnovers and going a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line while shooting 3 of 7 from the floor, all inside the arc.
The Mustangs won the rebounding battle 50-33 with 38 coming on the defensive end. They also shot 27 of 53 from the floor , went 8 of 22 from beyond the arc and were 9 of 10 from the free throw line.
Kylan Gerads led SMSU with a 19 point, 11 rebound double-double. Audrey Swanson tallied 10 points.
MSU finished 22 of 73 from the floor, went 3 of 16 from 3-point range and sank 32 of 41 free throw attempts.
Natalie Bremer led the way with 20 points while adding five rebounds and five steals. Hayle Stokes finished with 14 points, going 14 of 14 from the free throw line. Mackenzie Schweim added 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting. Ava Stier had seven points and seven boards.
The Mavericks aim to go 25-0 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday with a road game against Augustana.