MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University’s comeback bid against No. 18 Northern State fell just shy in the Mustangs’ home opener on Sunday. The Mustangs outscored the Wolves in three of the first four quarters of regulation, including a plus-11 margin in the second half to send the game to overtime, but second-quarter struggles were too much to overcome as they lost 81-79.

The game between the two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams was played as a non-conference matchup.

Nicole Maenke made a layup 30 seconds into the overtime period to give SMSU the lead, but Northern State responded with 7 unanswered points to claim an 80-75 edge.

Maenke knocked down a 3-pointer and a free throw to bring the Mustangs back within a single possession, trailing 81-79, and Audrey Swanson blocked a shot on the defensive end to give SMSU one last chance to tie or win the game, but Swanson’s jumper at the buzzer was no good and the Wolves hung on for the win.

Swanson and Maenke handled the bulk of the scoring load for SMSU, contributing 23 and 21 points, respectively. Swanson shot 8 of 17 from the field with a 3-pointer, as well as a team-leading nine rebounds, while Maenke added another 21 points on 6 of 11 shooting with a pair of 3s.

As a whole, SMSU shot 46% from the field and 5 of 25 from beyond the arc. The Mustangs also shot 22 of 26 from the free-throw line compared to 21 of 31 for Northern State, but the Wolves’ 51% field goal percentage was too much for SMSU to overcome. The Wolves shot 2 of 8 from 3-point range.

Brynn Busse helped the Mustangs regain their mojo with a 3-pointer and an and-1 early in the second half, trimming the deficit to 46-43. The Wolves built their lead back up to 63-55 heading into the fourth quarter. Busse finished the night with 11 points.

Northern State kept SMSU at arm’s length until Maenke hit a pair of free throws and a layup to tie up the game at 72 points apiece with 52 seconds left in regulation. Still, neither team was able to score from there as the game headed to overtime.

The Wolves finished the game with 12 offensive rebounds to SMSU’s six, resulting in a 12-6 edge in second-chance points and a 39-24 overall rebounding advantage. Izzy Moore paced the Wolves on the offensive glass, where she claimed four of her five total rebounds. The Wolves had four players finish with five rebounds and another pair finish with four, while Kylan Gerads was the only Mustang other than Swanson to reach the mark with five total rebounds.

Swanson scored 10 first-quarter points to give SMSU a 23-18 lead after the game’s first 10 minutes. Yet, the Wolves turned the tide in the second by outscoring SMSU 26-10.

Taylor Tool led the Northern State scoring effort with 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting, while Morgan Fiedler and Moore contributed 15 points each and Counts added another 14. Still, SMSU stayed in the game with 17 points off the bench while Northern State got 11 from its reserves.

The Mustangs led 28-22 after a Swanson and-1 two minutes into the half, but Moore responded with an old-fashioned 3-pointer of her own for Northern State, and a jumper from Counts and a 3-pointer from Fiedler gave the Wolves a 30-28 lead.

The edge was Northern State’s first since the first two minutes of the game, after which SMSU led by as many as 11 points. All momentum shifted from there, as a tip-in from Moore gave Northern State its largest lead of the day at 13 points before they settled for a 44-33 lead heading into the locker room.

Kennadi Buchholz blocked a pair of shots in the game while Maddie Thorfinnson, Haabala and Busse each snagged a pair of steals. Tool blocked a pair of shots for the Wolves while Reagan Rus came away with four steals and a block on the defensive end.

SMSU falls to 2-4 on the season with the loss and returns to action on Thursday when it heads to the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on Augustana (2-3) at 7:30 p.m.