MARSHALL, Minn.- The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (3-0 overall) erased a halftime deficit for the third consecutive game, defeating Maryville (Mo.) (1-2) 79-65 to open up their home schedule at the EverSpring Inn & Suites Classic in the R/A Facility.
 
After trailing 33-32 at the half, SMSU outscored Maryville 47-32 in the second half to cruise to victory. Three-point shooting was the key, as the Mustangs shot 39.4 percent from deep (13-of-33) and held Maryville to 8.3 percent (1-of-12), while outscoring Maryville 12-9 off second chance points.
 
The Mustangs shot 42.6 percent from the field (23-of-54) and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line (20-of-24), while the Saints shot 42.1 percent from the field (24-of-57) and 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the free-throw line. 10 different Mustangs appeared in the scoring column, with all 10 scoring at least three points. They also had 11 different players record a rebound, helping outrebound the Saints 39-30. 
 
Sadie Stelter led the offense with 16 points and five assists to help the Mustangs to victory, shooting 37.5 percent (3-of-8) from behind the arc. Jenna Borchers shot 50 percent (3-of-6) as part of a 13 point, three rebound night. Meleah Reinhart led the team with seven rebounds while adding 13 points, including five points in the fourth quarter. Sam Wall brought energy off the bench to ignite the Mustangs, scoring 11 points while shooting 50 percent (3-of-6) from three-point range and flying around defensively to make life difficult for her assignments. She added five rebounds and a steal to lead the bench unit.
 
Stelter was honored before the game after scoring her 1,000^th career point last Saturday and reminded the home crowd what she could do offensively, drilling a three to open the scoring before a drop off pass that led to an Erin Baxter three-pointer to give SMSU an early 6-2 lead. Maryville would charge back, riding a 12-1 run to jump to a 14-7 with 2:14 left in the quarter. Abuk Akoi would end the run, attacking the basket and getting to the line before sinking two free throws. The teams would go back and forth the rest of the quarter as Maryville would go into the break with a 19-11 lead.
 
The teams would continue to trade buckets for nearly four minutes until the 6:19 mark, when the Mustangs would begin to charge. Hannah Parsely and Borchers would combine for 10 of SMSU's 15 points, including Borchers first three-pointer of the season, to close the half as the Mustangs would outscore the Saints 15-7 to go into the locker rooms trailing 33-32. 
 
In what has become a theme to the young 2021-22 season, the Mustangs would come out on fire to open the second half. Borchers would continue her three parade with a pair of makes from long-range as part of a 13-4 run that would include four points from Reinhart and the first career made three-pointer from Lily Schoknecht to give the Mustangs a 45-37 lead. Anotinette Mussorici of Maryville would hold the game close, scoring 14 of 20 Maryville points in the third quarter including a buzzer-beating layup to close the quarter with SMSU leading 57-53.
 
After a layup form Mussorici to cut the SMSU lead to 57-55, the Mustangs rolled scoring 10 straight points until the media timeout to balloon the lead to 67-55. SMSU wouldn't hold a lead of single digits the rest of the way, responding to Maryville baskets before closing the game out with four free throws in the final four points. SMSU shot 77.8 percent (7-of-9) in the final frame to close out the victory while holding Maryville to 25 percent (5-of-20).
 
Maryville was led in scoring by Mussorici, who finished with 21 points. 
 
The Mustangs play their final game of the EverSpring Inn & Suites Classic Saturday at 4 p.m. against Truman State.