ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (5-4, 3-1 NSIC) defeated the No. 25 ranked Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears (5-4, 1-3 NSIC) Saturday night by a score of 70-67. With the Golden Bears leading 66-65 with less than 30 seconds left, Kylan Gerads hit a clutch 3-pointer giving the Mustangs a 68-66 lead, propelling SMSU to what could be a pivotal win on the season.
 
Nicole Maenke led the Mustangs in points with 20, shooting 67 percent from the field, and 4/6 from 3-point shots. Maenke was one of four Mustangs with double digit points. Natalie Nielsen scored 13 points and led the team in steals with three. Audrey Swanson put up 11 points and led SMSU in rebounds with eight. Gerads added 12 points, and Maddie Thorfinnson shot 3-3 on 3-pointers, scoring nine points.
 
As a team the Mustangs shot 50 percent from the field (25-50), 47 percent from 3-point range (10-21) and 91 percent from the charity stripe (10-11). The 47 percent mark from 3-pointers is the highest percentage in a game this season for SMSU. While out-rebounding the Golden Bears 34-31, the Mustangs had 21 turnovers compared to CSP's 12. The Golden Bears, led by Lauren Wilson with 24 points, shot 40 (23-57) percent from the field, 25 percent (5-20) from beyond the arc, and 64 percent (16-25) from the free throw line.
 
Both teams started the game strong, with the Mustangs and Golden Bears each shooting over 50% from the field in the opening 10 minutes. Nicole Maenke led the Mustangs with eight points and two 3-pointers, but a 12-4 run for CSP gave the Golden Bears a 21-16 lead at the quarter break.
 
The Mustangs kept the same energy in the second quarter, shooting 56 percent from the field and 5-8 from behind the 3-point line. After the Golden Bears scored the opening bucket of the quarter SMSU went on a 15-2 run, leading 31-26, and eventually extending the lead to 42-35 at the half.
 
The Golden Bears chipped away at the lead during the third quarter despite the Mustangs out-shooting CSP 45 percent to 21 percent and out-rebounding the Bears 10-7. The Golden Bears shot 8-10 from the free throw line, while the Mustangs did not attempt a free throw, cutting the Mustang lead to 52-49 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Concordia-St. Paul kept fighting back and eventually grabbed a late 66-65 lead before the previous three-pointer mentioned from Kylan Gerads. The Golden Bears had one final possession to send the game to overtime, but the Mustangs defense proved too much for CSP, and SMSU survived 70-67.
 
The Mustangs travel Sunday to Winona, Minn., facing Winona State at 4 p.m. in the McCown Gymnasium. The match will be streamed live on the NSIC Network and will be live on 94.7 FM KKCK with play-by-play from Ryan Rohlik. More information can be found at smsumustangs.com/sports/womens-basketball.