ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Southwest Minnesota State women's basketball team, in search of the NSIC regular season title, came up short in a 78-75 loss to the Northern State Wolves in its final game of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season inside Wachs Arena on Saturday night.
SMSU finishes the regular season at 25-3 overall and 19-3 in the NSIC, while NSU finishes the year 18-10 overall and 15-7 in conference play. SMSU finishes in second place in the 15-team conference and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NSIC tournament.
Bri Stoltzman led SMSU with 29 points and seven rebounds while dishing three assists.
Peyton Blandin added 20 points and five rebounds, while
Audrey Swanson secured her 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Stoltzman's 29 points bring her to 579 total points this season, tying her single-season record set in 2023-24.
SMSU closed the night shooting 39 percent (31 of 80) from the field including 24 percent (5 of 21) from beyond the arc. The Wolves finished the game shooting 51 percent (28 of 55) from the field including making 3 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc.
Three NSU players scored in double figures to lead the Wolves to the win. Rianna Fillipi poured in a team-high 25 points and eight assists while securing two blocks. Madelyn Bragg scored 19 points and secured 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Northern State opened the game by making 4 of 4 field goal attempts to go on a 9-4 run and take an early lead at 7:47 in the first quarter. SMSU countered with a run of its own by scoring 10 of the following 12 points to take a 14-11 lead with just over five minutes to play.
NSU would not go away, building to a 23-18 lead with a minute remaining in the quarter before SMSU splashed home a 3-pointer and a layup to tie the game at 23-23 heading into the second quarter.
The Wolves held the momentum in the opening minutes of the second quarter, using it to pursue another 10-6 run to push back to a four-point lead at 33-29. Madelynn Bragg took over the game for NSU, scoring all eight of the Wolves' points on an 8-5 run and keeping NSU in the lead at 41-36. Stoltzman would sink a pair of free throws and Blandin would get a layup to fall in the closing minute to cut the deficit to one point at the half.
NSU opened the second half on a 12-5 run using five points from Rianna Fillipi to take a 53-45 lead at 7:04. SMSU would then go on its own scoring run, using three jumpers and a layup over three minutes of play to cut the deficit to two points with four minutes left in the quarter.
Both teams struggled to get shots to fall in the final four minutes, with all but two points coming from free throws.
SMSU attempted a rally in the fourth quarter but was matched with every score by the Wolves down the stretch.
SMSU will play the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 7 seed MSU Moorhead and No. 10 seed Wayne State on Saturday, March 1, at 1:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D., inside the Sanford Pentagon.
