SMSU men and women sweep USF to open NSIC season in Marshall
Big night for Mustangs on their home court with sweep of Cougars
MARSHALL, MN. (Dakota News Now) -It was a big night for the Mustangs basketball teams in a sweep of USF in the NSIC opener on their home home. Here’s a recap of both game along with highlights.
Men’s Recap
The Southwest Minnesota State men’s basketball team opened NSIC action on Tuesday night with a 73-65 victory over the University of Sioux Falls inside the R/A Facility.
Anthony Costello led four Mustangs in double figures with 15 points, while grabbing six rebounds. Jake Phipps recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Cliff McCray scored 13 points and Dunwa Omot added 12 points.SMSU closed the game shooting 42 percent (22 of 53), including 3 of 13 from 3-point range, while USF shot 38 percent (21 of 56) from the field and made just 6 of 27 from 3-point range.SMSU committed just eight turnovers and held a 38-34 rebound advantage.The game started slow for the Mustangs as the Cougars built a 14-2 advantage in the first seven minutes of the game. McCray stopped USF run with a 3-pointer, Phipps followed with a layup and Sam Schwartz added two free throws to cut the deficit to 14-9 at the 11:53 mark.Phipps would score later in the half to trim the USF advantage to 24-21 with five minutes left in the half. The Cougars would continue to hold on to close the half and build a 32-29 halftime lead.
SMSU would finally take its first lead of the game as Phipps scored on a layup at the 17:30 mark to give the Mustangs a 37-35 advantage. SMSU would continue to roll and eventually pushed the lead to 47-35 following a 3-pointer by Mason Lund with 15 minutes remaining.
USF would pull to within 54-46 with 8:26 remaining but a field goal by Omot and two baskets from Costello extended the SMSU lead to 60-46.
USF battled and cut the SMSU lead to 67-62 with 37 seconds remaining, but SMSU’s Jakob Braaten hit a pair of clutch free throws to help seal the victory.
SMSU returns to non-conference play on Saturday hosting Mount Marty (S.D.) at 2 p.m.
Women’s Recap
The Southwest Minnesota State women’s basketball team used a balanced attack, leading wire-to-wire in a 72-59 victory over the University of Sioux Falls to open conference play on Tuesday night inside the R/A Facility.
Madison Gehloff reached career-highs with 13 rebounds and five assists, adding seven points to help fuel the Mustangs. Hannah Parsley scored a career-best 19 points, leading all scorers while tying a career-high with eight rebounds and adding two blocks. Bri Stoltzman scored 13 points, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking a pair of shots, and Sam Wall scored 11 points. Jenna Borchers also reached double figures, scoring 10 points and grabbing four rebounds, and Peyton Blandin filled it up, tallying eight points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
The Mustangs, now 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play after winning their fourth consecutive game, shot 40.0 percent (26 of 65) from the field and 27.3 percent (6 of 22) from the three-point arc. Sioux Falls, 2-3 overall and 0-1 NSIC, shot 35.4 percent (23 of 65) from the field and 25.0 percent (3 of 12) from three.
SMSU held a 49-35 advantage on the glass, including 15-8 on the offensive boards, collected five blocks and seven steals while holding Sioux Falls to just a pair of second chance points to lead a defensive effort that helped the Mustangs to victory.
SMSU opened the game on fire, shooting 4 of 8 from the field to start the game on a 9-2 run, forcing a USF timeout just three minutes into the game.
The Mustangs continued tacking to their lead, scoring 14 of the next 23 points to grow their lead to 12 at 23-11 before a Cougar buzzer beater to make it a 10-point game into the second quarter.
After a USF three-pointer to open the second quarter, Stoltzman, Wall, Blandin, and Parsley combined for a 10-0 run on 4 of 5 shooting while holding the Cougars to 0 of 6 from the field, leading to SMSU’s biggest lead of the night at 33-16.
USF started to chip away in the final five minutes, scoring 14 of 22 points to cut its deficit to 41-30 at the half. Borchers scored nine points to lead the Mustangs in the first half, while Parsley and Wall scored eight, and Stoltzman scored seven and added five rebounds.
Each team would score 15 points in the third quarter, but a 6-2 Mustang run in a 30 second span gave SMSU a 56-45 lead to settle a USF comeback and even the frame.
With 3:45 to go in the game, the Cougars made a pair of free throws to trail 62-55, but they would not shrink the SMSU lead anymore, as a 10-4 Mustang lead closed the game and gave SMSU its fourth consecutive victory.
SMSU will take time to refresh, getting back into action on Thursday, Dec. 1, for a home match-up against Augustana at 5:30 p.m.
Game recaps courtesy SMSU Athletics
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