Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University's Audrey Swanson begins to dribble toward the lane in the first half against UMary Saturday night. The Mustangs defeated the Marauders 89-75.

MARSHALL — Audrey Swanson and Natalie Nielsen’s double-doubles helped the Southwest Minnesota State University team hold off a UMary second-half push for an 89-75 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win Saturday night. Swanson, Nielsen and Nicole Maenke combined for 67 points in the victory.

SMSU built a 16-point halftime lead, and although the Marauders cut the score down to single points in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs’ ability to attack the rim and rebound showed to be a difference maker down the stretch.

“They [UMary] weren’t going to let us walk away with it by any means. So, just trusting Coach Webb, he was calling plays and trusting those plays that he was calling, and just knowing that he’s calling them for a reason,” Nielsen said regarding holding off UMary. “Also, I have all the confidence in the world in my teammates, and I know that they’re confident in me as well, so just bringing that back and forth.”

Swanson recorded her double-double in the first half with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and finished the night with a team-high 28 points and 16 boards.

Maenke finished with 21 points and shot 9 for 9 at the charity stripe. Nielsen finished the night with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Kylan Gerads was the fourth Mustang to finish in double figures with 10 points along with a team-high three steals. Maddie Thorfinnson led the team with eight assists.

UMary continued to fight its deficit the entire night, and brought the score within 8 points, 65-57, with 7:11 remaining following a 3-pointer.

Maenke got the hot hand with her attacking effort to pair with Swanson’s, hitting a series of crucial driving layups throughout the fourth quarter.

“I think Nicole and I know that when we drive into the paint, we might get double-teamed in the paint, but we know we have teammates that we can kick out into the 3,” Swanson said. “We know our teammates are going to make it. So, if we get into the paint, we can either go up or kick out.”

Allison Undlin hit a 3 for the Marauders to cut into SMSU’s 69-62 lead with just over six minutes to go, just as Nielsen found a cutting Maenke on the opposite side of the paint followed with a Nielsen post-up to take back a 75-63 lead.

As UMary chipped away, the Mustangs did just the same through an all-around full-team effort on both ends of the floor.

Nielsen helped secure the win for SMSU with a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer, followed up with drawing a foul and a pair of free throws for a 85-72 lead with 1:22 to play.

Swanson and Maenke each made two more free throws as SMSU was able to drain the clock down the rest of the way for the win.

“We talk a lot about, at halftime, it’s 0-0,” Nielsen said. “Whether we’re up or down, [we don’t want to] feel like we’re one way or the other. Just go out and just play Mustang basketball no matter what the score is.”

SMSU’s patience and ball movement shined throughout the first half particularly, leading to a 42-26 halftime lead. The Mustangs also had an impressive five 3-pointers and shot 46% in the opening 20 minutes, and held UMary to an 0-8 mark from deep and 33% shooting clip.

“I think we’re really [good] when we’re patient on offense. When we pass the ball around, we are patient for good shots,” Swanson said. “We know we can get a good shot if we keep passing it, and our team can make it, so we’re patient with that shot selection to get a good shot in the end.”

Swanson’s right-handed driving layup was also troublesome to the Marauders to stop. Along with her first-half double-double, she logged 12 points alone in the first quarter.

A pair of layups from Swanson got the Mustangs off to a 6-2 start, while UMary tied up the score 8-8 a few possessions later.

SMSU caught early fire and embarked on an 11-0 run to build a 19-8 edge.

Swanson and Brynn Busse hit back-to-back 3-pointers, while a Nielsen block turned into another Swanson layup to highlight the run.

Swanson also credited the team’s defensive performance for making a difference in the game, noting that they were able to create a handful of fast break opportunities with their stops on defense.

Gerads and Swanson hit two straight 3s from the left corner to open the second quarter to give SMSU a 27-16 edge.

The Mustangs made a habit to take a few dribbles in toward the paint, and kick-out for either an open look from the perimeter or continuing to wait for a stronger opportunity to drive.

Swanson grabbed a steal with the fastbreak layup and Maenke went in for a layup as time went down to give the Mustangs a 42-26 halftime lead.

SMSU also held a notably large advantage on the boards in the first half, outrebounding UMary 24-15. The Mustangs finished with 36 rebounds, 26 defensive, to the Marauders’ 22 total.

“They’re [UMary] a very good rebounding team. They outrebound a lot of teams, so just focusing on going after every rebound, both on the offensive glass and defensive glass, was really important for us,” Nielsen said. “Once we get those rebounds, we can push.”

The physicality and tempo on both sides turned up a notch in the second half.

UMary came out with more intense defensive pressure, grabbing a pair of steals while forcing an out-of-bounds call and jump ball in the opening minutes of the second half. UMary also applied some light full-court pressure.

The Marauders cut SMSU’s lead to single digits with a 9-2 run, 44-35, before Gerads hit a 3-pointer to spark back some momentum.

Back-to-back 3-pointers helped UMary climb back within a 57-48 deficit heading into the final quarter.

“I think we did a good job against their press. We had a few slip ups on the press, which they tried to get some good seals on us, but I think we kept it patient,” Swanson said. “We had a good time out where we relaxed.”

SMSU has won five of its last six games with Saturday’s victory.

The Mustangs (10-7, 8-4) will look to keep their momentum going when they host MSU Moorhead (9-7, 6-6) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the R/A Facility.

“I think we are growing as a team a lot right now,” Swanson said. “The past [road] trip, Duluth and Bemidji trip, we grew a lot as a team. We learned some strengths, some people stepped up. I think we’re going on a good run.”