MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team extended its win streak to six games with a 75-71 win over Wayne State in its NSIC opener on Tuesday evening inside the R/A Facility.

SMSU is now 6-0 on the year and 1-0 in NSIC play. WSC drops to 2-2 overall and 0-1 to start conference play. 

The Mustangs finished the night shooting 50 percent (31 of 62) from the field for the third time this season. SMSU made just 2 of 9 attempts from beyond the arc.

Peyton Blandin led SMSU with a career-high 27 points on 12 of 20 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Audrey Swanson followed with 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Kenzie Jones rounded out the top SMSU scorers with 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

WSC controlled the tempo for the first four minutes of the first quarter, pushing to an 8-3 lead right away. SMSU bounced back with an 8-0 run to take an 11-8 lead before Delaney Clark stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. The Mustangs used scores from Brynn Busse and Natalie Nielsen in the final minutes of the first frame to hold an 18-15 lead moving into the next 10 minutes.

WSC battled back with a 12-4 run using a pair of 3-pointers from Clark combined with scores from Fitzpatrick and Rietz to lead 27-22 with six and 30 seconds left in the half. Blandin would not let the game get out of hand, as she scored 11 of SMSU's 21 points in the second quarter to keep the Mustangs fighting. SMSU led 41-39 at the half.

The teams traded the first 16 points evenly to open the half until a layup from Blandin and jumper from Audrey Swanson began an offensive streak for SMSU. Blandin would pour in three more layups on the run to increase the SMSU lead to nine points with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter. 

The Wildcats held SMSU to four points in the remainder of the third quarter to shrink the margin to seven points. 

The Mustangs took the first four minutes of the final quarter to build to an 11-point lead at 73-62. Following the run, WSC played lockdown defense to hold SMSU scoreless for the following five minutes in chipping away at the lead. Kylah Vandonkersgoed recorded a pair of layups to help Wayne State's 8-2 run. The effort would prove to be too little, as Blandin would seal the deal at the free-throw line.

SMSU is back in action on Saturday, hosting Division III opponent Bethany Lutheran, with tip-off set for 4 p.m.