Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Sadie Stelter looks to drive during their game against Wayne State College on Thursday. SMSU defeated WSC 72-50.

MARSHALL — With only a couple of games left in the regular season and a spot in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament at stake, the Southwest Minnesota State University women’s basketball team looked to gain some momentum, especially after dropping back-to-back games last weekend.

SMSU responded in a huge way, using a stifling defensive performance to earn a 72-50 victory on Senior Night against Wayne State College on Thursday at the R/A Facility.

SMSU coach Tom Webb said he was pleased with their effort on both ends of the floor to be able to come away with a crucial win.

“We defended and it was a really good performance as far as their effort. We rebounded pretty well, but as a group it was just really good; I don’t think we had a turnover in the first half and that alone is a good stat,” Webb said. “It’s a good way to get in [to the NSIC tournament], it takes a lot of pressure off of Saturday and now you’re just playing for seeding and maybe a home-court advantage. I’m also proud of our seniors, it’s a great way to finish too and I’m just happy with how hard they worked.”

It was back and forth to start, with Wayne State holding a 5-2 lead before Sadie Stelter got a 3-pointer and a 3-point play to put SMSU in front at 10-5 with 5:46 left in the first quarter. The two teams then traded points over the next few minutes, but SMSU continued to maintain its lead, as a Stelter 3-pointer pushed its lead to 20-9 with 2:15 left.

The Mustangs would take a 12-point advantage going into the second quarter at 24-12, and SMSU’s offense continued to attack, with Sam Wall and Jenna Borchers connecting on 3-pointers to make it 32-12 with 7:25 left in the first half. A WSC 3-pointer would be the first field goal of the frame for the Wildcats with 3:02 left, but Borchers answered with a 3-pointer on the other end. More points were traded to close the half, with Meleah Reinhart getting a jumper before WSC connected on a 3/4-court shot at the buzzer to make it 41-23 at halftime in favor of SMSU.

The two teams exchanged points to start the second half, but SMSU continued to create separation as Wall connected on a 3-pointer before Stelter got a layup to make it 51-29 with four minutes left in the third quarter. SMSU kept attacking, with Hannah Parsley getting a 3-point play to give the Mustangs a 59-32 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, SMSU maintained its pace, as Reinhart got a layup before connecting on a 3-pointer to give the Mustangs their largest lead at 69-38 with 6:37 left and SMSU never looked back en route to the 72-50 final.

Stelter led SMSU with 18 points while Wall added 12 and Borchers had 10. Bri Stoltzman led in rebounds with nine while Abuk Akoi led in assists with six. As a team, SMSU shot 46.7% (28 of 60) from the field, including 10 of 21 (47.6%) from 3-point range.

Defensively, SMSU limited WSC to just 29.3% (17 of 58) from the field, including 7 of 21 (33.3%) from 3-point range and forced 10 turnovers.

Saluting

the seniors

SMSU also honored its seven seniors on Thursday. They are: Reinhart, Stelter, Borchers, Akoi, Erin Baxter, Olivia Drummer and Lily Schoknecht.

Webb said all of the seniors were recruited in his first couple of seasons at SMSU and he’s proud of the way they’ve led by example and represented the program, both on the floor and as students.

“The fifth-year kids were our first [recruiting] class and those fourth-year kids were our second class, so we’re just very blessed and fortunate they chose SMSU and Marshall and I think they’ve enjoyed it every day and they’ve represented really well and they’re great kids,” Webb said. “We also had the academic all-conference kids be honored, we had 11 kids eligible because they only take sophomores and above and all 11 are academic all-conference and that’s pretty special. The seniors just showed the way; academics are very important to us, athletics is very important to us, being a good person is important to us and they’ve been great examples.”

Up next

SMSU (12-11 overall, 9-10 NSIC) will close the regular season on Saturday on the road, facing Augustana University at 3:30 p.m.

SMSU 72, Wayne State 50

WSC 12 11 9 18 – 50

SMSU 24 17 18 13 – 72

Scoring: SMSU (Stelter 7-11, 2-3 18; Wall 4-8, 0-0 12; Borchers 4-7, 0-0 10; Reinhart 4-11, 0-0 9; Parsley 2-5, 4-5 8; Gehloff 3-8, 0-0 6; Akoi 2-4, 0-0 4; Baxter 1-2, 0-0 3; Stoltzman 1-3, 0-0 2).

Rebounds: SMSU 38 (Stoltzman 9; Gehloff 6).

Assists: SMSU 14 (Akoi 6; Stoltzman 4).

Steals: SMSU 7 (Stelter, Akoi 2).