MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team moved its winning streak to seven in a row, the program's longest in nearly 20 years, in earning a 79-55 victory over St. Cloud State on Saturday night inside the R/A Facility.
 
Bri Stoltzman led the Mustangs with a game-high 17 points on 8 of 16 shooting, while Sam Wall added 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting with three 3-pointers. Peyton Blandin also had a strong game with 14 points with three 3-pointers.
 
SMSU pushes its record to 9-6 overall, 7-2 NSIC, while SCSU falls to 7-5 overall, 4-4 NSIC.
 
The last time SMSU won seven straight games occurred during the 2004-05 season.
 
Ashley Sawicki led the Huskies with 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
SMSU continued its recent hot-shooting finishing the game shooting 54 percent (33 of 61) from the field including 9 of 26 from 3-point land. SMSU held a 39-30 rebound advantage with Madison Gehloff pulling down a team-high seven rebounds, while scoring eight points.
 
SCSU finished the night shooting 35 percent (19 of 55) from the field, while making 4 of 16 from 3-point range.
 
SMSU held a 20-14 advantage after one quarter of play, but used a huge 16-0 run in the second frame to blow the game open. SMSU held a 22-18 lead with just under eight minutes left in the first half, before the Mustangs' Maddie Thorfinnson drilled a 3-pointer to spark a four-minute run in which SMSU made 6 of 8 field goal with four 3-pointers, while limiting SCSU to 0 for 4 shooting. Following a free throw by SCSU, Blandin, who scored six points during the 16-0 run, added a 3-pointer at the 3:13 mark to extend the SMSU lead to 41-19.
 
SMSU would hold a 44-26 lead at the halftime break.
 
SMSU would shoot 47 percent in the third quarter to outscore SCSU 19-14 and cruise to its second straight win in the series. Prior to last season's 76-68 victory in the NSIC Tournament, SCSU had won 15 straight dating back to the 2010-11 season.
 
Hannah Parsley scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds to help the SMSU charge, with Thorfinnson finishing with six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
 
SMSU hits the road next weekend for a pair of games, including a Friday night match-up at MSU Moorhead before taking on Minot State on Saturday.