SMSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Huge third quarter propels SMSU around Upper Iowa, 75-51
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MARSHALL -- After earning a hard-fought victory against Winona State University on Friday, the Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team looked to maintain its momentum against Upper Iowa University. The Mustangs battled their way to a slim halftime lead before using a 28-8 third quarter to highlight a 75-51 victory on Saturday at the R/A Facility.
SMSU senior guard Meleah Reinhart said after their slow start in the first half, they did a good job of playing with more energy and playing together as a group in the second half.
"We came out a little slow in the first half but a lot of my teammates came out ready in the second half," Reinhart said. "Coach [Tom] Webb got us amped up in the locker room and Erin [Baxter] came out really strong and hit two big shots for us to get us going and we just played really good team basketball and it was really fun."
Both teams struggled to get going on the offensive end to start, with a layup by Upper Iowa serving as the only basket before Hannah Parsley connected on a 3-pointer to give SMSU a 3-2 lead with 6:20 left in the first quarter. The two sides then traded points over the next few minutes, as Upper Iowa went on a 6-0 run to go up 8-3 with 4:50 left in the frame before back-to-back 3-pointers by Abuk Akoi and Sadie Stelter put the Mustangs in front at 9-8 with 2:11 left.
Upper Iowa would take a 13-11 lead going into the second quarter, but the Mustangs had an answer, using an 8-0 run to go up 19-13 with eight minutes left in the first half before UIU went on a small run a couple of minutes later to tie it at 19-all. The two teams continued to exchange points, with a 3-pointer by Reinhart giving SMSU a 29-24 lead before Sam Wall was fouled on a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left and made two free throws to help SMSU take a 31-28 lead going into the locker rooms.
SMSU would create some separation to start the second half, as Stelter got a layup to make it 38-31 with eight minutes left in the third quarter before a 5-0 run by Wall gave the Mustangs a double-digit advantage at 45-31 with 5:34 left. SMSU continued to maintain the lead, as a layup by Jenna Borchers made it 50-34 with 2:35 left before a jumper and a layup by Madison Gehloff pushed the advantage to 23 at 59-36 going into the fourth.
The Mustangs kept up the offensive attack in the final frame, as Sarah Conlon got a layup to make it 71-41 with 7:14 left. SMSU never let it get below 21 the rest of the way en route to the 75-51 victory.
Wall led SMSU with 12 points while Reinhart and Gehloff each added 11 and Akoi had 10. Stelter led in rebounds with six and in assists with four. As a team, SMSU shot 46.8% (29 of 62) from the field, including nine of 30 (30%) from 3-point range.
Webb said offensively, especially in the third quarter, they did a good job of moving the basketball around and creating open looks from within the paint.
"We were moving the basketball, got the ball to the post and then kind of dove off of that," Webb said. "Our threes came out of that instead of the swing threes, we weren't doing a very good job with those swing threes. We just had better movement, it was a lot better execution and we just really functioned in that third quarter."
Defensively, SMSU held Upper Iowa to just 28.1% shooting (16 of 57) from the field, including 6 of 21 (28.6%) from 3-point range. Webb said they were able to improve on switching opponents on the floor and communicating overall as a group.
"We did a good job switching and played hard on the ball," Webb said. "I thought we did a good job of talking and helping with penetration which was a good thing here because on Friday I think we struggled with that so that was a better improvement."
Up next
SMSU (7-2 overall, 4-1 NSIC) will hit the road next weekend, taking on Concordia-St. Paul next Friday at 7:30 p.m. before facing MSU Mankato next Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Reinhart said as long as they continue to play as a group, they can be a tough team to stop.
"I think that the one big thing is it can be anybody any game and if you play team basketball, you're going to win," Reinhart said. "We're a really good team and we're the best when we're all playing together as one."
SMSU 75, Upper Iowa 51
Upper Iowa 13 15 8 15 - 51
SMSU 11 20 28 16 - 75
Scoring: SMSU (Wall 3-6 5-6 12; Reinhart 4-10, 1-2 11; Gehloff 5-6 0-0 11; Akoi 4-4, 1-1 10; Stelter 4-13, 0-0 9; Stoltzman 3-5, 0-0 6; Baxter 2-5, 0-0 5; Parsley 1-2, 0-0 3; Blandin 1-5, 0-0 3; Borchers 1-4, 0-0 2; Conlon 1-2, 0-2 2; Jones 0-0, 1-2 1).
Rebounds: SMSU 43 (Stelter 6; Baxter 5).
Assists: SMSU 19 (Stelter 4; Akoi, Borchers, Parsley 3).
Steals: SMSU 6 (Stelter, Stoltzman 2, Parsley 1).