BOX SCORE

MANKATO, Minn. – No. 23 Minnesota State jumped out a 21-2 lead and then held off a second half charge by Southwest Minnesota State to earn an 85-63 victory on Friday night in NSIC women's basketball at the Taylor Center.

Karlee Gengenbacher led MSU (16-5, 13-4 NSIC) with 16 points, while Ali Wilkinson added 15 points and seven rebound. MSU entered the game as the NSIC's top scoring team and ranks seventh in Division II averaging 83 points per game.

The Mavericks have now won 14 straight in the series with SMSU's last victory coming during the 2004-05 season.

Annessa Rosch scored a career-high 20 points to pace SMSU (4-17, 2-15 NSIC) connecting on 7 of 11 field goals with four 3-pointers. Bree Holleman (15) and Ellen Degler (12) also scored in double figures for the Mustangs.

SMSU ended the game shooting 48 percent (27 of 56) from the field, including 59 percent in the second half. MSU shot 49 percent (32 of 65) from the field and held a 35-29 rebound advantage. SMSU committed 21 turnovers, while MSU turned the ball over just 12 times. MSU held a 35-12 scoring advantage on points off of turnovers.

MSU built a 33-point lead in the first half and led 48-22 at halftime, before SMSU stormed back in the second half to pull within nine points, 68-59, with five minutes and 12 seconds left in the game.

MSU started the game strong scoring the first six points and never looked back in building a 21-2 advantage with 12:19 left in the opening half.

SMSU struggled from the field in the first 15 minutes - making just four field goals - and didn't reach double figures until 4:24 left in the half.

MSU pushed the lead to 44-11 at the 2:31 mark before SMSU closed the half with two 3-pointers by Rosch and one by Holleman to cut the deficit to 48-22 at halftime.

SMSU shot just 33 percent (8 of 24) from the field and committed 15 turnovers in the first half, while MSU shot 56 percent (19 of 34) and held a 19-13 rebound advantage.

The Mustangs wouldn't go away and continued to chip into the Mavericks lead until cutting the deficit to less than 20 with 13:16 left in the game at 58-40 following a layup by Jessie Watts.

MSU maintained a 66-51 lead with eight minutes left before SMSU countered with an 8-2 run capped by a layup by Alison Nagel to cut the deficit to 68-59 with 5:17 and forcing MSU to call a timeout.

MSU would answer with six straight points to extend the lead to 74-59, before Holleman and Rosch scored back-to-back field goals to make the score 74-63 at the 2:36 mark. That was as close as the Mustangs would get though as the Mavericks closed the game scoring the final 11 points to seal the victory.

Southwest Minnesota State closes the weekend tomorrow at Concordia-St. Paul with tip-off set for 4 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center. CU (18-6, 13-4 NSIC), which has won seven straight games, received votes in this week's WBCA Top 25 poll.