Photo by Samantha Davis: Southwest Minnesota State University's Natalie Nielsen goes up against her defender for a shot in the first quarter against Sioux Falls Saturday afternoon in Marshall during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup. The Mustangs defeated the Cougars 87-79 behind Nielsen's 26 points and 10 rebounds.

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MARSHALL — A well-balanced scoring and strong rebounding effort powered the Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team to an 87-79 revenge win over Sioux Falls Saturday afternoon in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate game. Audrey Swanson, Natalie Nielsen and Nicole Maenke all scored more than 20 points to help the Mustangs hold off the Cougars’ second-half push down the stretch.

SMSU built a 49-33 halftime lead and led by as many as 20 points with a strong perimeter and paint presence. USF, however, opened the second half on an 11-0 run and eventually cut the score down to 4 points with 1:18 to go before clutch shots from Nielsen and Swanson saved the win.

SMSU outrebounded USF 41-30, leading to 18 second-chance points. The Mustangs also hit six 3-pointers in the first half, nine total, to the Cougars’ six.

The Mustangs and Cougars met just over a month ago on Nov. 25, where USF ultimately came away with a 92-80 win. SMSU was hot from deep in the last meeting with 12 3-pointers to USF’s five, while the Cougars outshot the Mustangs 54-34 in paint points.

This time around, SMSU outshot USF 48-46 in the paint.

Nielsen led the Mustangs with 26 points, shooting 9 for 10 at the foul line, along with her 10 rebounds and two steals. Swanson shot 4 of 9 from 3 for 24 points along with 11 rebounds and a team-high four assists, while Maenke followed with 21 points and three assists.

USF went on its 11-0 run to start the second half and cut the game to two possessions, 49-44, before Elizabeth Wagner ended it with a shot down low. Swanson hit her third 3-pointer of the night to spark back some Mustang momentum and a 58-44 lead minutes later, SMSU responding with a 9-0 run.

Maenke gave SMSU the momentum it needed to open the final quarter with a 3-pointer and open layup after driving in from the wing.

USF continued to chip away and eventually cut the score down to 4 points with just over a minute to play, 82-78, following a steal and fastbreak layup after a continuing back-and-forth battle in the fourth quarter.

When it mattered most, Nielsen came down with the offensive board for the and-1 putback with 59 seconds left. In return, Swanson put the dagger on the Mustangs’ win on the next possession with a corner 3-pointer with 18 seconds on the clock.

Although a back-and-forth start, the Mustangs were efficient from all areas on the court to pull away to a 20-point lead in the first half. SMSU shot 6 of 11 from deep in the first while USF hit two.

Swanson’s right-handed drive was also an early difference maker, as SMSU continued to feed her the ball to take the drive and led all scorers with 16 first-half points.

USF got off to a 6-0 start after the Mustangs missed their first four shots, but a Swanson 3 from the top of the key got SMSU on the board.

Swanson hit another contested 3 minutes later to give SMSU a 19-13 lead, before the Cougars responded on a 6-0 run to bring the early game back within a possession.

Yet, Nielsen was found down low for the and-1 along with the free throw for a 22-17 lead followed by SMSU forcing a shot clock vioaltion on USF’s final posession, which turned into Swanson finding Wagner down low to end the first quarter.

Swanson and Nielsen already had 12 points each after hitting back-to-back layups in the opening minutes of the second quarter, giving the Mustangs a dougle-digit lead 31-21 to force an early USF timeout.

SMSU brought the Cougars late into their shot clock on numerous posessions, forcing USF to take late contested shots. In return, the Mustangs’ ball movement and patient offense also shined.

A pair of Maenke 3-pointers along with a driving layup after splitting through three defenders gave SMSU its 41-25 edge with 4:30 to go in the half.

SMSU built its largest lead of the night 47-27 with 2:22 to go in the half.

SMSU (7-6, 5-3 NSIC) will next hit the road to Bemidji State (6-6, 3-5) on Friday for another NSIC matchup at 7:30 p.m.

With the win, SMSU currently sits in fourth in the NSIC South standings, just behind USF who moves to 8-5 overall and tied with the Mustangs 5-3 in conference play.