BOX SCORE

BISMARCK, N.D. – Southwest Minnesota State earned its first road victory of the season on Friday night with an 80-69 victory over the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

Amber Peterson paced SMSU (4-10, 3-7 NSIC) with a career-high 18 points, including connecting on four 3-pointers. Peterson also dished out a game-high seven assists with two steals in 38 minutes of play. Laura Kramer added her first double-double of the season for SMSU with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Tori Fink also had a solid game for SMSU with 16 points, including 7 of 7 shooting from the free throw line.

SMSU's 80 points was a season-high, while the team also drilled a season-high nine 3-pointers.

UMary (8-7, 5-6 NSIC) was led by Ali Collins, who scored a game-high 20 points on 6 of 15 shooting.

SMSU finished the game shooting 48.2 percent (27 of 56) from the field and held a 33-27 rebound advantage. UMary, which shot just 24 percent in the opening half, shot a blistering 64 percent in the second half, but it wasn't enough as SMSU earned its second victory in four games all-time in Bismarck.

SMSU scored the game's first six points and never trailed for the remainder of the game behind outstanding team defense in the opening half. UMary connected on just two of its first 15 shots from the field as the Mustangs built a 22-8 first half lead at the 5:39 mark following five straight points by the Mustangs' Bree Holleman.

The Marauders closed the gap to 22-14 with 2:58 left in the half, but SMSU answered with a 3-pointer by Amber Peterson and a fast break basket by Heather Smith to extend the margin to 27-14.

SMSU pushed the lead to 31-16 late in the half on a free throw by Jessie Watts, before settling for a 31-18 halftime lead.

SMSU held a 23-13 rebound margin in the opening half and held UMary to just 24 percent (5 of 21) shooting in the first half, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.

Mary started the second half strong and cut the lead to 38-29 with 16 minutes remaining, but a 3-pointer and lay-up by Watts stopped the Marauders and push the lead back to 43-29 at the 15:18 mark.

SMSU continued its red-shot shooting from 3-point range in the second half as Peterson drilled a 3-pointer with 11:40 remaining to give the Mustangs a 54-37 lead. The Mustangs drilled four of its first six 3-point attempts of the second half.

Peterson drilled a 3-pointer with seven minutes remaining to give SMSU a 65-47 lead, but UMary rallied with a 9-0 run to pull within 65-56, before Kramer ended the run with a field goal at the 5:06 mark to give SMSU a 67-56 lead.

The Marauders trimmed the lead to 70-63 with 2:11 left in the game, but Fink hits six straight free throws to seal the victory for the Mustangs.

Southwest Minnesota State will conclude the first half of the conference season tomorrow night with a match-up at Northern State (10-5, 7-4 NSIC) in Aberdeen, S.D., beginning with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.