Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. -- Abuk Akoi scored a team-high 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked five shots to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a hard-fought 58-50 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball on Saturday afternoon in the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU snapped a 17 game losing streak against CSP and has now won three times in the last 41 matchups between the two programs.
 
SMSU improved to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC, and with CSP dropping to 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the NSIC, knocking CSP below Augustana making them fourth in the South, while SMSU is just one game behind Sioux Falls who is currently in first in the South.
 
Both SMSU and CSP struggled finding the basket, with the teams sharing a 26.9 shooting percentage (18 of 67), the Mustangs gained its advantage by doing work from 3-point range, making 6 of 13, while CSP made just 5 of 19 from long-range. SMSU also won the rebound advantage 52-50, making this the seventh time this season SMSU has out rebounded its opponent.
 
Akoi led the Mustangs in points with 14 points on 5 of 11 from the field, followed by teammate Sadie Stelter who had 12 points on 4 of 13 and went 1 of 4 from the perimeter. Caleigh Rodning earned the Mustangs 10 points on the night, including a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line.
 
Riley Wheatcraft led CSP in points with 22 on 7 of 15 from the field with three 3-pointers. Lindsey Bencher led the Golden Bears in assists with seven.
 
In the first half both teams struggled finding the basket with SMSU shooting only 19.4 percent with Meleah Reinhart leading the Mustangs in scoring with five points and CSP shooting 20.6 percent was led by Ayla Lemke with seven points. SMSU would go on a five-point run to end the first quarter and give SMSU its largest lead of the half at 13-8 after one quarter of play. The run started with 1:16 left in the quarter as SMSU's Sara Teske would make a layup and was followed by a 3-pointer by Jenna Borchers to give the Mustangs a five-point lead.
 
CSP scored the first four points of the second quarter to regain the lead at 14-13, before Reinhart drilled a 3-pointer and Stelter hit a jumper to give the Mustangs an 18-14 advantage. CSP however ralllied with the final six points of the half to build a 20-18 halftime edge.
 
In the second half there were five lead changes with a crucial change coming late in the third quarter where the Mustangs found themselves down 30-28. SMSU would go on a 6-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers from Reinhart and Erin Baxter with 2:25 left in the quarter to help take a 38-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

The game would remain tight midway through the fourth quarter with the score tied at 43 before Akoi would give the Mustangs the lead back with a jumper at the 4:23 mark. Madison Gehloff would push the lead to 47-43 with a field goal with three minutes left, before CSP answered with a field goal with 1:44 remaining to cut the deficit to 47-45. Akoi then hit a clutch field goal to give SMSU back a four-point lead and moments later Gehloff hit one of two free throws to make the score 50-45 with 48 seconds left. SMSU was able to make eight straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.

SMSU and CSP will conclude the series on Sunday with game time set for 1 p.m.