MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team closed out a special regular season on Saturday night, defeating the Wayne State Wildcats 85-66 inside the R/A Facility. 
 
The win gives the Mustangs 17 wins on the season, the most since 2004-05. They finish the regular season third in the NSIC South and tied for fourth in the NSIC overall, its best finish since that same season. It is also their 14^th win in conference play, their most conference wins since 2001-02. 
 
Sam Wall finished the game with a team-high 21 points, shooting 7 of 11 from the field and 4 of 7 from three. Bri Stoltzman capped off her third double-double in her last four games with 18 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists and three steals. 
 
Hannah Parsley tallied 14 points, five rebounds, and four steals, and Jenna Borchers scored 10 points in her final game at the R/A Facility. Peyton Blandin rounded out the five Mustangs in double-figures with 10 points and four rebounds. 

Wall and Madison Gehloff, as well as Borchers, were recognized prior to the game for senior night. Wall and Gehloff are each eligible to return for another season if they choose to. 
 
SMSU, 17-10 overall and 14-8 in the NSIC, shot 51.6 percent (33 of 64) from the field, 11 of 32 from three, and 8 of 12 from the free throw line. WSC, 11-15 overall and 7-15 NSIC, shot 48.1 percent (26 of 54) from the field, 5 of 17 from three, and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. 
 
The Mustangs fed off mistakes, outscoring WSC 17-3 off turnovers. 
 
Lauren Zacharias led the way for the Wildcats, scoring 25 points on 11 of 16 shooting. 
 
The Mustangs shot 8 of 13 from the field over the first 7:16 of the game to take a 19-12 lead, with Stoltzman's seven points leading the way. 
 
The Wildcats answered to end the quarter, finishing on an 8-0 run to take a 20-19 lead into the second quarter. 
 
That run extended to 12-0 after WSC opened the second quarter scoring with a pair of buckets to grow its lead to five. 
 
After adding four points each, SMSU countered a pair of layups with threes to trail 32-29 with 6:14 to go in the first half. 
 
The Mustangs scored seven of the next nine points to take a 36-34 lead with 4:48 until the break. 
 
WSC claimed its next lead at the 3:08 mark before trading points and taking a 46-45 lead into the half. 
 
Zacharias was on fire in the first half, scoring 21 of her 25 points, and WSC shot 11 of 14 from the field in the second quarter. 
 
Wall opened the second half with an and-one to reclaim a lead at 48-46 on SMSU's first possession. After WSC tied the score, Parsley got to the rim for a layup to lead 50-48 at the 7:45 mark of the third quarter. 
 
That layup started a 10-2 run to grow its lead to eight at 58-50 with 6:03 left in the third, creating separation that would last for the rest of the game.
 
SMSU wouldn't lead by less than six the rest of the way, outscoring the Wildcats 23-10 in the third quarter to lead 68-56 into the fourth. 
 
The Mustangs outscored WSC 17-10 in the final frame, leading by double-digits the entire quarter to cruise to a win.  
 
The Mustangs, the third seed in the South, open NSIC Tournament play on Wednesday night, hosting the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles, sixth seed in the North, at 5:30 p.m., inside the R/A Facility.