Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University’s Audrey Swanson cuts through the defense and attacks the basket against Sioux Falls on Jan. 3 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Strong second and third quarters helped the Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team pull ahead of Jamestown for a road win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Friday night. SMSU finished with four players scoring more than 15 points as they overcame a first-quarter deficit for an 88-74 win.

Nicole Maenke led SMSU’s scorers on the night with 20 points, shooting 4 of 8 from 3-point range, and her four assists on one turnover trailed only Maddie Thorfinnson’s seven turnover-free assists. Kylan Gerads and Natalie Nielsen each scored 19 points in the game, while Audrey Swanson shot a perfect 3 of 3 from long range for 16 points with a team-leading eight rebounds.

SMSU trailed by a point heading into the second quarter, 21-20, when a Kylan Gerads and-1 put the Mustangs back on top. Jessika Lofstrom and Allie Berns each answered with a pair of points for the Jimmies.

The teams remained within a point or 2 of each other until Maenke hit a go-ahead 3 to give the Mustangs a 34-31 lead with 3:27 to play in the first half. Jamestown regained a 1-point lead on a Lofstrom layup with a minute left, but Maenke converted a layup and assisted a Gerads 3 at the buzzer to give SMSU a 39-35 lead at halftime.

Leading by a pair of points four minutes into the third quarter, the Mustangs slammed their foot on the gas to pull away. Gerads kicked off the scoring run with a pair of layups, the latter of which she set up with a steal.

After the teams traded baskets to keep SMSU’s lead at 5 points, Nielsen got a layup and a pair of free throws to go down and Elizabeth Wagner knocked down another layup to give SMSU its first double-digit lead of the day, 60-49, with two minutes to play in the half.

SMSU went on an 8-0 run from there, including 3s from Nielsen and Maenke and a Christina Wagner layup, to claim a 16-point lead before Berns connected on a jumper for the Jimmies to cut the gap to 68-54 heading into the final frame.

The Mustangs’ ability to generate extra possessions benefitted them heavily in the final score. SMSU outscored Jamestown 27-17 in points off turnovers, led by four steals from Swanson and three from Gerads, and Nielsen accounted for two of the Mustangs’ eight offensive rebounds to give SMSU an 8-3 edge in second-chance points.

Haidyn Crockett led the Jamestown scorers with 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting in the game while Lofstrom added another 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Each of the two shot 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, and Lofstrom also tied Berns with a team-leading five rebounds.

Jamestown scored the game’s first points on a Samantha Paulsen 3 before SMSU responded with a pair of free throws from Maenke and 3s from Thorfinnson and Gerads to claim an 8-3 lead in the first quarter.

Still, Jamestown rallied back, regaining the lead at 17-15 on a Halle Crockett layup with two minutes left in the first quarter and retaining the lead with a Loftrom layup on the final shot of the quarter to lead 21-20.

SMSU led by double digits throughout the fourth quarter as the Jimmies never were able to string together enough points to make a run at the Mustangs.

Munson making an impact

Jordan Munson, a Tracy-Milroy-Balaton graduate and Independent All-Area first selection in her 2023 senior season, has averaged 19 minutes per game in her seven games played for the Jimmies this year. The total nearly doubles her participation of 10 minutes per game in her redshirt freshman season at Augustana last year.

So far this season, Munson has averaged 3.4 points per game with 2.4 rebounds. She’s season increased opportunity as of late, however, averaging 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds over her last three games. She played 22 minutes off the bench on Friday night, shooting 2 of 3 from the field for 4 points with three rebounds.

Surging up the standings

Friday’s win marks the fifth straight victory for the Mustangs, keeping them tied with UMary for third place in the NSIC at 11-4 behind Minnesota State’s 15-0 and Minnesota Duluth’s 13-2. SMSU is 13-7 overall on the year.

Up next

The Mustangs continue their road trip into the Dakotas with a matchup against Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D. today at 4 p.m. The Wolves currently sit in ninth place in the NSIC standings at 6-9 (11-10 overall). SMSU has won each of its last four matchups against Northern State with an average margin of victory of 23.5 points.