MARSHALL, Minn.--The Southwest Minnesota state women's basketball team kicked off its season suffering a tough loss in a close battle with Northwest Missouri State at home Friday evening. 

The Mustangs begin the year 0-1 overall, remaining 0-0 in the NSIC. The Bearcats move to 1-0 overall, 0-0 in the MIAA.

SMSU closed the game shooting 49.2 percent (29-59) from the field, including 9-20 from three, in comparison to 46.8 percent (37-79) shot by NWMSU. The Mustangs biggest lead of the night was four points, and happened with 8:23 left in the game. Northwest Missouri State held a lead as large as 16 points with 3:29 left in the first half. The game saw eight lead changes with the Bearcats leading for 34:51 of the game. 

NWMSU out-rebounded SMSU by 19 rebounds (50-31) in the game, and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in comparison to four by SMSU, creating 17 second chance points. The Bearcats dominated the paint this evening, scoring 64 of their 94 points in the lane.

At the line, the Mustangs went 22-33 (66.7 percent), while the Bearcats shot 76.2 percent from the stripe (16-21). 

Bri Stoltzman led the Mustangs offense tonight with a career high 36 points on 13-23 shooting, and is the first Mustang to score 30 points or more in a game since Jenna Borchers on Jan. 4, 2020. Peyton Blandin got some buckets tonight as well, posting her career-best performance with 17 points on 7-12 shooting. Sharpshooter Sam Wall dialed in 17 points in the affair, shooting 37.5 percent (3-8) from three, and is just three makes away from cracking the top five in 3-pointers made in program history.

The Bearcats jumped out to a 16-13 lead early in the first quarter before being stopped by a Bri Stoltzman layup. NWMSU would go on a 8-4 run sparked by a layup by Molly Hartnett, and would close the first quarter with a 22-17 lead. 

NWMSU would carry its momentum into the next period, starting the quarter with a 16-5 run that lasted over six minutes. Payton Blandin ended the Bearcat run by starting a near-three minute run for the Mustangs. Blandin notched six points on the run, accompanied by Bri Stoltzman who scored five of her own, closing the first half with authority on an 11-4 run.

The second half began with four Mustangs baskets to push the score to 42-40 in favor of NWMSU. The Bearcats would shift the focus back into their hands, slashing the SMSU defense with a near six-minute run that displayed them posting 17 points. 

Similarly to the second quarter, the Mustangs used a 9-0 run to take a 63-59 lead. The most intense basketball of the night was played in the fourth quarter. Both squads posted 35 points in the quarter in their efforts for victory, the first time the Mustangs scored at least 30 points in a quarter since Dec. 1, 2022. SMSU held its final lead in the fourth quarter at a score of 69-67 in favor of NWMSU. The Bearcats would however take control in the final moments of the game, landing a 14-8 run, and ending the game victorious by a score of 94-89.

The NWMSU offense was anchored by a duo of Bearcats in Molly Hartnett and Kelsey Fields. Hartnett shot 9-20 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line, tallying 27 points in the win. Fields accumulated 22 points on 62.5 percent shooting (10-16), and secured a double-double with 16 rebounds–the most in the game by any player. Fields added one steal, block, and assist.

UP NEXT 

The Mustangs return to play tomorrow hosting Nebraska-Kearney with tip-off at 7 p.m.