MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State women’s basketball team (9-6 overall, 6-5 NSIC) dominated the first half and were fueled by a career-day from Sadie Stelter to take down Minnesota Crookston (1-15, 0-10) 63-55 in an NSIC cross-division clash inside the R/A Facility on Friday night.

The Mustangs would lead 36-19 after the first half, using a 25-5 run to accelerate to an 18 point lead in the late stages of the second quarter.

Stelter, the senior from Wood Lake, went for a career-high 25 points, seven rebounds, including a team-high four offensive rebounds, four steals and tying a team-high with two assists while shooting 9 of 20 from the field.

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the field (24 of 57) while shooting 27.3 percent from three (6 of 22) and 81.8 percent (9 of 11) from the free throw line. The Golden Eagles were held to 32.8 percent from the field (19 of 58) while shooting 21.1 percent from three (4 of 19) and 81.3 percent (13 of 16) from the free throw line.

SMSU also saw an advantage in points off turnovers, turning 16 UMC turnovers into 19 points while limiting UMC to just seven points off of 17 Mustang turnovers, and rebounding with a 40-32 advantage.

SMSU had two players reach 20 points, with Stelter joined by Meleah Reinhart. Reinhart finished the game with 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting while collecting five rebounds. It was the first time since the 2020-21 season finale on Feb. 21, 2021 at Sioux Falls that two Mustangs scored 20 points each, when Reinhart (28) and Stelter (23) each reached the total. Jenna Borchers led the way on the glass, collecting nine rebounds while adding three points. Abuk Akoi would patrol the paint, collecting five blocks and three rebounds while adding two points and two assists, and Erin Baxter would finish third on the team in scoring with five points.

Stelter would provide the offense early, scoring the first six Mustang points, but UMC would answer with eight of their own to lead 8-6 with 6:07 to go in the first quarter. SMSU would catch fire from the field, making their next five shots, including six points from Reinhart, three from Wall and three from Stelter to close the quarter on a 12-0 run and take an 18-8 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter would open with over three minutes of scoreless basketball before a Reinhart free throw to extend their run to 13-0, pushing their lead to 19-8 with 6:50 to go in the half. Although UMC would make a layup to end the run, SMSU would score 12 of the next 15 points, with five different players finding the bottom of the net to reach their biggest lead of the half at 31-13. The final 1:23 of the half would see 11 points, with UMC outscoring SMSU 6-5 to go into the locker room trailing 36-19.

After each team would score a pair of points, the Golden Eagles would soar back into the game, going on an 8-2 run in two minutes of action to creep within 40-29. Stelter would continue her career day, silencing the comeback with a pair of buckets to fuel a 10-2 run to build a 50-31 lead. UMC would respond with a 6-0 run, and after a Reinhart three, would score the final four points of the quarter to head to the final frame with SMSU leading 53-41.

After an Erin Baxter three to open the scoring in the fourth, UMC would continue their efforts to chip away, scoring the next four points to cu the SMSU lead to 56-45 with 7:50 to go in the game. After more than four scoreless minutes, UMC continued their run with an and-one to trail by eight.

Stelter would continue the theme of playing spoiler for the Golden Eagles with 2:01 to play, picking up an offensive board and finishing at the rim with 2:01 to go to get the Mustang lead back to double digits. UMC would make a layup and send Stelter to the line, where she would make one of two before UMC went down the next possession and connected from deep to trim the SMSU lead to 59-53 with 25 seconds to go.

Stelter and Reinhart would each get a turn to ice the game at the line, as both would make a pair at the line before a UMC layup before time expired to bring the game to its final score.

UMC had three in double figures, led by Kylie Post, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

SMSU will be back at home today, hosting Bemidji State at 3:30 p.m. inside the R/A Facility.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications