Box Score
ST. CLOUD, Minn.- Meleah Reinhart and Sarah Buysse each notched career scoring highs with valiant, late contributions offensively as Southwest Minnesota State (2-6, 1-4 NSIC) had another fourth quarter comeback attempt fall short in a 76-68 loss on the road at St. Cloud State on Saturday night in the Halenbeck Hall.

Southwest Minnesota State went on a 19-2 run during the fourth quarter to test the Huskies late, but SMSU was unable to recover after falling into another early hole.

Sarah Buysse set a career high and had a game high 22 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field which included 3 of 5 shooting on three point attempts. Buysse went 9 of 10 from the charity stripe as the Mustangs went 19 of 24 (79 percent) from the free throw line.

Buysse's career night helped the Mustangs to a 33-10 advantage in bench points on the night but St. Cloud State held SMSU to just three second chance points and turned 22 Mustangs' turnovers into a 21-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.

Meleah Reinhart also set a career high with 18 points after going a perfect 4 of 4 from behind the arc in addition to a team-leading four assists. Erin Baxter also hit double digits in scoring for SMSU with 10 points as well as four rebounds and two steals on defense. 

Southwest Minnesota State finished the night 44.4 percent shooting from the floor as a team after going an unprecedented 8 of 9 (89 percent) during the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs were forced to come back late in part because St. Cloud State went 20 of 30 (67 percent) from the field in the first half. The Huskies came out of the second quarter with a 48-33 halftime advantage after their hot shooting start.

The Mustangs trailed by 21 after the Huskies knocked down a trey for the first bucket of the fourth quarter. SMSU would then hold St.Cloud State scoreless over the next 7:49 as the Mustangs went on a 16-0 run to creep back into the contest.

SMSU went 5 of 5 from the field and were led by Reinhart's five points during its late run, but the Huskies knocked down all five of their field goal attempts and 4 of 5 free throw attempts in the final three minutes to salt the game away.

The Mustangs will return home to play Sioux Falls next Saturday beginning at 5 p.m.