Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University forward Elizabeth Wagner (5) goes up for a layup between a pair of Wayne State defenders during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference womens basketball game on Saturday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Kylan Gerads stepped up as a scorer for the Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team on Saturday to lead the Mustangs to a wire-to-wire win over Wayne State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. Gerads scored 12 of her 20 points in the first half, giving the Mustangs a sizable cushion at the midway point en route to an 84-58 victory.

“This week’s practice has been intense for us, we know we need to lock in,” SMSU guard Audrey Swanson said of the team’s pair of wins on the week after a 2-4 start. “We really focused in on personnel. We’re getting good shots, getting shots for other people too. It’s just our system is starting to roll, and it’s been really fun to watch.”

Gerads shot 7 of 11 from the field and knocked down five of her six 3-point attempts, pacing the Mustangs to 50% shooting from the field and 42% shooting from beyond the arc on 33 attempts.

Nicole Maenke also contributed 14 points on 4 of 13 shooting with six assists while Audrey Swanson chipped in 13 points on 5 of 15 shooting, each making a 3-pointer, while Brynn Busse and Maddie Thorfinnson each knocked down a trio of 3s to finish with 9 points.

SMSU’s success from beyond the arc came in part as an adjustment to the Wildcats trying to take away the interior after the Mustangs’ early success driving into the paint, SMSU head coach Tom Webb said.

The Mustangs finished with 32 points in the paint and a 10-4 edge in second-chance points.

“We got really, really good looks. I thought we actually missed quite a few, so it was kind of funny, so it’s a good thing that we shot 42 [percent] because we have really good shooters,” Webb said. “They work at it every day… We’re going to go downhill and attack and try to play fast, so they [Wayne State] have to make a decision and they kind of decided that that’s what they’re gonna do.”

Gerads knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Nicole Maenke for the game’s first bucket on the Mustangs’ first possession and the Wildcats never tied it back up. Tenleigh Smith knocked down a layup on the opposite end of the floor, but Swanson went on a solo 7-1 run from there to bring SMSU’s lead up to 10-3.

It was a slow bleed from there, as a pair of 3-pointers from Gerads and Busse brought the Mustangs’ lead to 18-9, and Gerads knocked down another layup with two minutes left in the first to make it a double-digit game, 23-12.

Swanson and Maenke dished out seven and six assists, respectively, in the game with just one turnover each.

“I just trust my teammates with those passes out on the kick,” Swanson said. “I knew they were going to make it. They trust themselves to shoot the ball, we all know the ball’s going to go in the hoop.”

Swanson’s six rebounds also tied Gerads for second on the team to Natalie Nielsen’s seven as the Mustangs built a 40-25 edge on the glass. Three of Gerads’ rebounds came on the offensive glass, leading to a 9-2 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Heading into the second quarter with a 25-12 lead, the Mustangs continued to pile on, leading by as many as 16 before going into halftime with a 39-25 lead. The Wildcats tied the Mustangs with 24 third-quarter points, but couldn’t cut into the deficit and SMSU pulled away in the fourth with a 21-9 edge.

Rietz and Rachel Tahlen led Wayne State with 14 points each while Smith added another 12.

Going through changes

The Mustangs lost a handful of key contributors after last season, including Division II National Player of the Year Bri Stoltzman, All-NSIC second-teamer Peyton Blandin and Kenzie Jones.

In their stead, Swanson — an NSIC first-team selection last year — has continued to improve, inching up her scoring average to 16.2 and more than doubling her assists per game up to 3.4 The Mustangs have also been aided by the addition of Gerads, a sophomore transfer from St. Cloud State, and Maenke increasing her scoring average from 6.2 points per game as a freshman to 15.9 points per game so far this year.

“It’s definitely been a lot of adapting this year,” Swanson said. “Definitely when the other team gets the scout [scouting report], it’s easy for me to get the ball and pass it to somebody else and get off the shot. Like it’s fun to play with my teammates, and I know that they can make good shots, so just give them the ball and make them make a play.”

After dropping four of their first six games, SMSU’s back-to-back wins brings them back to .500 on the season, a change Webb attributed to Nielsen’s return to the lineup and lessons learned from a strong preseason schedule.

“They can see now that they played a really good schedule, so you’ve just got to understand that some of the things you learn early, you’re getting better at,” Webb said. “If you continue to get better, you’ve got a shot late in the year. Even for us, we watch the film, we’re going to correct some things, and we want to get better and have a good mindset that way, and I think we’ll continue to grow.”

Up next

SMSU improves to 4-4 on the season with the win (2-1 NSIC) and heads to the Gangelhoff Center on Saturday for a road matchup against Concordia-St. Paul at 7 p.m. The game is the first of a back-to-back for the Mustangs, who also play at Winona State on Sunday at 4 p.m.