Box Score

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. - Sara Leidall scored 20 points as Southwest Minnesota State held on for a 66-60 win over American International (Mass.) at the Disney East Coast Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.  The win helps SMSU to open the season 2-0.

Leidall hit 8-of-15 from the field, including two three-pointers.  Teammates Heidi Kimmes and Abby Oakland each scored 10.  Aneshia Starks tied for a game-high with eight rebounds.  Leidall and Tori Fink each had seven rebounds.  Starks also had a game-high with four assists.

SMSU shot just 37.3 percent from the field, and 68 percent from the free throw line.  While the Yellow Jackets shot just 32.2 percent, they connected on 19-of-20 from the free throw line to stay in the game.  They also forced 16 Southwest turnovers, though the Mustangs held a 45-38 rebounding edge.  Both teams were called for a lot of fouls; AIC had 24 fouls and SMSU was whistled 19 times.

While SMSU never trailed during the game, the Mustangs were never able to pull away.  SMSU jumped out to a 14-2 lead to start the game as Leidall scored eight points in the first 7:07.  But AIC forward Stacy Boisvert got hot, scoring 10 of her 16 first half points in a 12-4 AIC run to take the Mustang lead back down to two points with less than nine minutes left in the first frame.

Boisvert then tied the game at 20-20 at 7:21, but that was close as the Yellow Jackets would get the rest of the night.  Taylor Voss connected on 1-of-2 free throws on SMSU's next trip down the floor, before Oakland drilled a three-pointer following one of Megan Stadler's game-high four steals.  The Mustangs would maintain a four-point lead into halftime as Leidall made a layup just before the first half buzzer to make the score 29-25 at the break.

Southwest had 15 points off 10 AIC turnovers in the first half as Stadler had three of SMSU's four first half steals.  The defense also held AIC to 26.9 percent shooting at the intermission.

The Mustangs opened up an eight-point lead early in the second half after consecutive baskets by Leidall and Kimmes, just over two minutes after halftime.  Southwest stretched its lead to 10 seven minutes later on a jumper by Heather Smith.

After a basket by Boisvert cut SMSU's lead to five, Smith and Leidall hit back-to-back three-pointers for an 11-point lead with 9:22 left in the game.

Southwest built its biggest lead of the night at 57-43 with under six minutes remaining.  But Boisvert clawed her Yellow Jacket team back, scoring 10 points in the next five minutes, sparking a 13-2 run that was capped by a three-point play by Boisvert with 1:13 remaining that cut SMSU's lead to 59-56.  But SMSU hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to seal the six-point victory.

Boisvert scored a game-high 33 points and had eight rebounds, while hitting 17-of-18 from the free throw line and 8-for-16 from the field.  Her 33 points were the most a Southwest opponent has scored since Laura Quigley scored 37 points in St. Cloud State's 94-78 win over the Mustangs on Dec. 7, 2004.

SMSU will finish its three-game road trip to Disney on Sunday with a 6:30 EDT tipoff against No. 17 South Carolina-Aiken.