SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 3 seed Minnesota State forced No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State into 35 turnovers, which led to 46 points, in earning an 87-74 victory in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball tournament semifinals on Monday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
SMSU, ranked No. 19/21 nationally, drops to 26-4 overall and suffers its second loss to MSU this season. MSU, the defending NCAA national champions, improve to 24-6 overall and will play top-seed Concordia-St. Paul in the championship game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
 
It is the fourth straight season MSU has defeated SMSU in the NSIC tournament, including the last three in the semifinals.
 
SMSU, ranked No. 7 in last week's NCAA Central Region rankings, will now await its NCAA postseason fate with the NCAA selection show on Sunday night at NCAA.com. The final weekly ranking will be Wednesday with today's game not considered.
 
The Mustangs had four players score in double figures with Audrey Swanson scoring a game-high 18 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds for her 15^th double-double of the season with eight coming in the last 11 games. Swanson also set the program's single-season rebounds record amassing 286. Anne Pryor (1981-82) held the record of 284.
 
Natalie Nielsen and Bri Stoltzman each scored 16 points, while Peyton Blandin chipped in with 10 points.
 
SMSU shot 47 percent (27 of 57) from the field, but made just 5 of 24 from 3-point range and was 15 of 23 from the foul line.
 
MSU held a 46-15 scoring advantage in points off turnovers and a 17-8 edge in second chance points.
 
Destinee Bursch paced the Mavericks with 22 points, five assists and four steals, while Natalie Bremer added 21 points. MSU finished the game shooting 42 percent (27 of 64) from the field with five 3-pointers, while also making 28 of 36 from the free throw line.
 
MSU used a quick start to open a 14-5 lead with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter. SMSU cut the deficit to 18-13 later in the quarter, but MSU forced SMSU into 12 turnovers in the first 10 minutes to build a 22-13 advantage after one quarter of play.
 
Trailing 24-15 early in the second quarter, Kenzie Jones drilled a 3-pointer to spark a 10-3 Mustang run over two minutes to cut the deficit to 27-25 with 6:27 remaining. MSU countered with an 11-2 run to push the margin to 38-27 with just under three minutes left in the half.
 
Nielsen and Swanson combined for six points in less than a minute to bring the Mustangs to within 40-33 with 1:46 left before the Mavericks stopped the run and pushed the lead to 44-35. SMSU closed the half with four straight free throws by Jones and Stoltzman to cut the MSU lead to 44-39 at halftime.
 
MSU forced SMSU into 17 first half turnovers which led to a 24-6 scoring advantage. SMSU shot 60 percent in the second quarter with a pair of 3-pointers.
 
Swanson and Nielsen each led the Mustangs with nine points in the first half with Stoltzman and Blandin scoring eight each.
 
MSU opened the second half with eight straight points with SMSU held scoreless until 6:32 left in the third following two free throws by Nielsen to trim MSU's lead to 52-41.
 
The Mavericks continued the pressure in the quarter and expanded the lead to 61-45 with 4:10 left.
 
The Mustangs committed 12 turnovers, were limited to 2 for 9 shooting from the field and made 7 of 12 from the foul line in the third quarter. The Mavericks made just six field goals in the quarter but were 11 of 14 from the free throw to outscore the Mustangs, 26-13, and build a 70-52 advantage after three quarters.
 
SMSU would not go down without a fight and cut the deficit to 76-62 following a Blandin field goal with just over seven minutes remaining. Nicole Maenke would connect on a 3-pointer with Swanson following moments later with a field at the 2:51 mark to make the score 84-72.
 
SMSU's Brynn Busse would drive and score with 2:08 remaining to trim the MSU lead to 85-74, but that was as close as the Mustangs would come as the Mavericks earned its seventh straight win the series.
 
MSU defeated SMSU, 101-83, in Mankato on Dec. 13 with the Mavericks forcing 36 Mustang turnovers.