Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Southwest Minnesota State held a plus eight advantage on the boards but struggled shooting, going just 33 percent from the field as a big third quarter run helped William Jewell (Mo.) to a 66-52 win over SMSU in the Stewart Center.

SMSU went just 5-of-21 from behind the three point line and could never regain any momentum after holding William Jewell to just seven points in the first and just 19 first half points.
 
Taylor Holicky recorded the first double-double of the season for any Mustang player with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Lauren Hedlund added 12 points and eight boards with one of the best shooting nights for SMSU going 5-of-7 from the field.
 
William Jewell forced 30 turnovers and took advantage for 21 points off of turnovers to help pull away and hold onto a second half lead after SMSU went into halftime with a four point lead. The Cardinals leading scorer Maddie Nelson played all 40 minutes and put up a game high 18 points and Chris Keys added another 17 for WJC.
 
WJC shot just 17 percent from the field going 3-of-18 and just 1-of-9 from three's in the first quarter as the Mustangs held the Cardinals to just nine first quarter points and 13-7 lead after the first.
 
Abby Connell went 3-of-5 on three pointers and Hedlund and Holicky combined for 15 first half rebounds to help the Mustangs to a 23-19 halftime advantage. The Mustangs went into the break with the lead despite 14 first half turnovers and just a 32 percent shooting percentage after two quarters.
 
The Cardinals' offense exploded to life in the third quarter as William Jewell went on a 25-5 run to give them a 44-29 lead with just over four minutes to go in the third. SMSU suffered from 11 turnovers in the third and William Jewell scored 27 points in the quarter to into the fourth with an eight-point advantage.
 
The Mustangs couldn't find enough offense to close the gap in the final quarter of play going just 3-of-12 (25 percent) shooting and 0-of-5 from three-point range. SMSU made it to the free throw line 25 times more than doubling William Jewell's total (11). The Cardinals controlled the scoring in the paint however and WJC finished with a 32-18 advantage in points in the paint.
 
The win puts William Jewell at 1-0 to start the season.
 
SMSU (0-3, 0-0) will play its second game of the USF Classic versus South Dakota Tech on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m.