MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team (6-6, 4-3 NSIC) defeated the St. Cloud State Huskies (4-8, 1-6 NSIC) Saturday evening 75-64 in the Mustangs final game of the 2025 calendar year.
 
Nicole Maenke led the charge for the Mustangs scoring 26 points, two off her career high set earlier this season, shooting 8-14 from the field and 4-7 from downtown. Natalie Nielsen secured her fourth double double on the campaign, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 boards. Kylan Gerads, facing her former team for the first time, had her second double double this season tallying 11 points and 13 rebounds. Audrey Swanson added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Brynn Busse set a new career-high in assists with seven.
 
As a team the Mustangs shot 47 percent from the field (27-58), 25 percent from three-point range (5-20), and 84 percent from the charity stripe (16-19). SMSU out rebounded SCSU 45-31 with the Huskies forcing 22 turnovers by the Mustangs to their 15. SCSU, led by Jada Eggebrecht and Abigail O'Reilly with 12 points each, shot 36 percent from the field (22-61) and 17 percent from 3-pointers (3-17).
 
The Mustangs held an early lead in the first quarter, with Nicole Maenke scoring her only basket of the first half in the first five minutes, and Kylan Gerads grabbing seven boards in the first 10 minutes, with SMSU holding a 15-9 lead at the end of the first.
 
Turnovers hurt the Mustangs in the second quarter, reaching 12 in the quarter. Despite the issues, SMSU shot 6-10 from the field, with Natalie Nielsen leading the way by the end of the first half with 11 points and nine rebounds. SMSU held a 28-26 lead at the end of the half, with both teams shooting 36 percent from the floor.
 
The Huskies kept the game close early in the third, cutting the deficit further to just one with seven minutes to play in the quarter, when the Mustangs exploded for a 14-2 run, with eight points from Maenke and six points from Gerads, leading 47-34 with less than four minutes to play. Despite an immediate 7-0 from the Huskies, the Mustangs remained on top by the end of the quarter, leading 51-43.
 
SMSU pulled away from the Huskies in the final 10 minutes, shooting 69 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter, with Maenke adding 10 more points to her night. The Mustangs defensively held SCSU to shooting 11-31 from the floor and 2-9 from three in the second half.
 
The Mustangs are back in the R/A Facility on Jan. 3, facing the Sioux Falls Cougars in a rematch from Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. in the first game of 2026. Tickets and more information can be found at smsumustangs.com/sports/womens-basketball.