MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team held off a second-half push from the University of Minnesota Crookston for a 76-66 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win Saturday night in the Mustangs’ annual Tropical Night game.

SMSU had a 46-26 lead at halftime, and although the Golden Eagles outscored the Mustangs in both the third and fourth quarter, Audrey Swanson’s 20 points and Natalie Nielsen’s 14-point, 14-rebound double-double helped the Mustangs stay in front.

Saturday marked Swanson’s eighth game of the season scoring 20 or more points, and was also Nielsen’s seventh double-double performance.

Kylan Gerads and Nicole Maenke also finished in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively, with Gerads shooting a perfect 3 for 3 from the perimeter.

SMSU pulled away to a double-digit lead promptly, cruising ahead 28-12 on a dominant 16-0 run to close the first quarter and start the second with momentum. Maenke had a pair of 3-pointers during the run.

The Mustangs went on the run after UMC took a 12-10 lead with 4:38 to go in the first.

Back-to-back jumpshots in the paint from Swanson and Maenke continued SMSU’s lead to 40-22 with just under three minutes to go in the half, as a Gerad’s 3-pointer at the buzzer eventually sent the Mustangs to the locker room up by 20.

UMC started the fourth quarter facing a 68-46 deficit after another Maenke 3, but returned a 15-0 run to cut the score to 68-61 with 5:48 to play.

Yet, another Gerads 3-pointer, a pair of Nielsen free throws and a Swanson layup in the final seconds kept SMSU in front just enough to withstand the Golden Eagles’ comeback attempt.

Swanson and Gerads also each had six rebounds on the day, along with Swanson’s two steals.

Nielsen also had a pair of blocks, while Maddie Thorfinnson led the offense with five assists. Maenke had another four assists.

SMSU primarily outplayed UMC on the boards and from the arc, outrebounding the Golden Eagles 42-27.

The Mustangs finished the game with 10 3-pointers and held UMC to just two.

The Golden Eagles, however, did force 20 SMSU turnovers while only committing five themselves.

SMSU moves to 12-7 overall and 10-4 in the NSIC, and now sits second in the NSIC South and fourth in the conference.

The Mustangs will look to keep their stride going with another pair of road wins this weekend when they travel to take on Jamestown (4-14, 2-12 NSIC) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Harold Newman Arena. SMSU will then take on Northern State (10-10, 5-9 NSIC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Wachs Arena.