BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. - Lucia Puchelova nailed a pair of free throws with less than a second left to give Southwest Minnesota State a decisive four-point lead and lift her Mustangs to a 75-71 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Minnesota Duluth Friday night in Marshall.

SMSU improves to 12-7 (6-6 NSIC), while UMD, ranked No. 5 in the latest Central Region poll, drops to 13-6 (8-4 NSIC).

The win marks the first SMSU has defeated UMD since the 2001-02 season.

Puchelova's free throws came after UMD's Lindsay Miller turned the ball over with three seconds left on what could have been the game-tying or game-winning possession for the Bulldogs.  Off the turnover, the Mustangs burned two seconds off the clock before the Bulldogs were able to commit a foul.

Tori Fink's game-high 21 points paced SMSU.  Abby Kenealy also finished with 16 points and six rebounds.  Taylor Voss had a career night, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arc.

Megan Stadler kept her streak of leading SMSU in assists every game this season alive, finishing with a game-high eight in the category.

Jheri Booker and Miller had 19 points each to lead UMD.

The Mustangs jumped out a seven-point advantage to open the contest, taking a 14-7 lead when Puchelova connected on a 3-pointer five minutes into the contest. The Bulldogs went back to work, scoring the next eight points to erase the difference and take a one-point lead of their own.

Seven minutes of balanced basketball ensued, featuring three tie scores, before SMSU orchestrated a 9-0 run that ended with 3:30 left before the break and put the Mustangs up 37-28.  UMD managed to trim the difference to four points by halftime.

Fink and Voss sparked the Mustangs with solid shooting performances in the first half.  Fink was 5-of-10 from the floor, while Voss connected on three of her four 3-point attempts.

The Bulldogs needed eight minutes after the break to take their first lead since late in the first half.  Kaiya Sygulla's layup at the 12:12 mark gave her squad a 52-53 lead.

The lead grew to as large as four points in the next four minutes.

But SMSU put together what turned out to be the difference-making run in the next two minutes, rattling off nine points to UMD's two.  The Mustangs held a 67-64 lead with 6:42 left in the contest.

The two teams evened the game at 71 apiece with 2:27 remaining.  After a minute of scoreless action--including missed baskets by both squads--Stadler drew blood, hitting a layup with 1:27 left to give the Mustangs a 73-71 advantage.

Stadler  followed her basket with a steal, but SMSU's possession resulted in a missed basket, giving UMD the ball with 20 seconds left.

Coming out of a timeout, Miller turned the ball over on the right baseline with three seconds left.

The Bulldogs waited until there was just 0.9 seconds left before fouling Puchelova and sending her to the line to convert her two attempts.

Puchelova's late free throws were indicative of SMSU's performance at the free throw line throughout; the Mustangs were 11-12 from the charity strip in the win, including 8-of-8 in the second half.

UMD controlled the glass, pulling down 43 rebounds--19 of them offensive--to SMSU's 32.

SMSU turned the ball over just 12 times.

The Mustangs continue this four-game homestand tomorrow, hosting Bemidji State at 6 p.m. for "Hawaiian Night."