WAYNE, Neb. – Bri Stoltzman poured in 33 points, her second straight 30-point game, to help the No. 17 ranked Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team remain in first-place in the league standings with a hard-fought 77-64 victory over Wayne State on Tuesday night inside Rice Auditorium.
 
The victory was the 15^th straight for the Mustangs which improve to 23-2 overall, 17-2 NSIC. WSC drops to 10-13 overall, 7-12 NSIC.
 
Stoltzman finished the night making 11 of 21 field goals with two 3-pointers and was a perfect 9 of 9 from the free throw line. Audrey Swanson poured in 16 points with eight rebounds, while Peyton Blandin added 10 points to round out the Mustangs' double figure scoring.
 
Natalie Nielsen led the Mustangs on the glass pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds and added eight points.
 
SMSU, which entered the game ranked second in the country in field goal pct. at 47.7 percent, struggled in the fourth quarter and finished shooting 40 percent (27 of 68), including 5 of 17 from 3-point range.
 
The Mustangs held a 47-43 rebound advantage and committed just eight turnovers.
 
WSC, which was led in scoring by Brooklyn Kruse's 15 points off the bench, was limited to 30 percent (20 of 66) shooting.
 
SMSU jumped to an early first quarter lead using a 9-2 run behind a Blandin 3-pointer, a layup by Nicole Maenke and back-to-back field goals by Stoltzman to make the score 19-10. Audrey Swanson would hit a jumper with Stoltzman closing the quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Mustangs a 24-12 advantage after 10 minutes.
 
The Mustangs put together a 7-0 run behind four points from Stoltzman, a free throw by Maenke and a layup Nielsen to extend the lead to its largest of the half at 31-15 at the seven-minute mark.
 
WSC responded with a 14-7 spurt over a four-minute span to cut the deficit to 38-29, but a three-point play by Stoltzman and two free throws by Swanson stopped the Wildcat run and helped the Mustangs build a 43-31 halftime lead.
 
Stoltzman poured in 16 points in the opening half with six field goals, while Swanson scored 10.
 
SMSU opened the second half with six straight points to a 49-31 lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter. The lead was 51-33 moments later before WSC rallied with seven straight points to pull to within 51-40 before Stoltzman hit back-to-back jumpers and then drilled a 3-pointer to make the score 58-40 with 3:10 left in the third. The lead would eventually balloon to 63-44 following a 3-pointer by Maddie Thorfinnson before the Mustangs settled for a 63-48 lead after three quarters.
 
SMSU missed its first eight shots of the fourth quarter to allow WSC to cut the deficit to 67-57 with less than four minutes remaining but a huge 3-pointer by Thorfinnson stopped the Wildcat run and push the Mustangs to victory.
 
SMSU will have its final home game of the season on Saturday facing Minnesota Crookston for 'Senior Night' with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at the R/A Facility.