BOX SCORE

BELMONT, Calif. – Southwest Minnesota State shot 65.5 percent in the second half to open a 10-point halftime lead and cruised to an 80-53 victory over Notre Dame de Namur (Calif.) on Friday in women's college basketball.

SMSU improves to 2-0 for the first time since 2008-09, while Notre Dame falls to 1-2.

Rebekah Rolling led the Mustangs with 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting, while Bree Holleman added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Alison Nagel added 12 points for the Mustangs with teammate Hope Bonlander coming off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds.

SMSU finished the night shooting 52 percent (33 of 64) from the field and held a 40-34 rebound advantage. The Mustangs finished the game with 22 assists and committed just eight turnovers.

Notre Dame shot 36 percent (20 of 56) in the contest and committed 15 turnovers.

SMSU made just 1 of 7 3-pointers in the second half, but was 18 of 22 on two-point field goal attempts and finished the game with a 42-24 advantage in points in the paint.

The Mustangs trailed 21-20 five minutes and 34 seconds left in the first half, but a 10-0 run, including six points by Rolling gave SMSU a 30-21 lead. The lead would grow to 11 points later in the half before SMSU settled with a 38-28 halftime advantage.

Holleman started the second half with a bang scoring the first six points to grow the advantage to 44-28 and the lead never dipped below double digits as SMSU cruised to the victory.

Southwest Minnesota State continues play tomorrow taking on Cal State Monterey Bay (1-0) starting at 4 p.m. CST in Belmont, Calif. The Otters finished 20-9 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament.