By Joe Brown
jbrown@marshallindependent.com
ST. CLOUD - Using a 14-5 at the end of the first half for a 42-31 lead, St. Cloud State dominated on all facets on the court for an 83-55 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday in St. Cloud.
Article Photos
Photo by Joe Brown
St. Cloud State’s Christina Steele, top, and Southwest Minnesota State’s Courtney McCarthy fight for a rebound during the first half of Saturday’s NSIC game in St. Cloud.
Forcing the Mustangs into 24 turnovers and converting 34 points off turnovers, the Huskies won their fourth straight game over SMSU. Meanwhile, the Mustangs (4-15 NSIC, 5-18 overall) dropped their 11th straight game.
Afterwards, SMSU head women's basketball coach Allison Kruger was simply at a loss of words.
"Right now, it's not about other teams, it's about us," Kruger said. "We got to fix a lot of problems."
Fact Box
SMSU (55)
Abby Kenealy 5-14 4-4 14, Bree Holleman 4-11 0-0 10, Courtney McCarthy 3-5 0-0 6, Taylor Voss 1-3 0-0 3, Nathalie Svensson 1-3 0-0 2, Jessie Watts 4-6 2-3 11, Hannah Beeler 1-2 2-2 4, Ellen Degler 1-2 0-0 2, Hope Bonlander 1-9 0-0 2, Emilee Duske 0-0 1-2 1, Sam Lynn 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 9-11 55. Three-Pointers 4-17 (Holleman 2-5) Rebounds 35 (Kenealy 6, McCarthy 6) Assists 13 (Kenealy 3) Steals 12 (Voss 4) Blocks 3 Turnovers 24 Total Fouls 16.
St. Cloud State (83)
Jessica Benson 5-7 2-2 16, Aaryn Booker 6-11 1-2 13, Jordi Gerking 2-3 6-6 11, Nicole Anderson 4-5 0-0 10, Amanda Wagner 1-4 3-3 6, Christina Steele 4-4 0-0 8, Rachael Moen 1-5 5-6 7, Sam Price 2-7 2-2 6, Carley Jeffery 2-6 0-0 4, Elizabeth Zilverberg 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan Lof 0-3 0-0 0, Reyan Robinson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 19-21 83. Three-Pointers 8-20 (Benson 4-5) Rebounds 31 (Benson 5) Assists 21 (Wagner 5) Steals 11 (Booker 3) Blocks 4 (Jeffery 2) Turnovers 16 Total Fouls 10.
Halftime Score: St. Cloud State 42, SMSU 21.
While the Mustangs struggled to hold onto the ball, St. Cloud State's Jessica Benson got hot from the outside, going 4 of 4 from three-point range in the first half. She finished with 14 of her game-high 16 points in the first 20 minutes, helping her team to a 8-for-20 night from beyond the arc.
"A kid hits two straight threes like Benson did," Kruger said, "how are you going to let her catch the ball again?
"We don't make game adjustments and it's hurting us big time. We didn't have much heart or desire in that first half and that was tough to watch."
Along with Benson, three other Huskies - Aaryn Booker (13), Jordi Gerking (11) and Nicole Anderson (10) - finished in double digits. St. Cloud State (10-9, 13-10) shot 50 percent from the field.
The Mustangs could only get as close as 19 points in the second half (46-27) before St. Cloud State led the rest of the game by 20-plus points.
"You can't expect to have a first half like that and expect to compete in the second half," Kruger said. "We didn't do what we needed to do."
Abby Kenealy had a team-high 14 points for SMSU, which shot 32.3 percent from the field. Jessie Watts (11) and Bree Holleman (10) also finished in double figures.
Sitting in 13th place in the 14-team NSIC, the Mustangs have three more chances to end the season on a high note, starting on Friday with a home game against Bemidji State. SMSU hosts Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.
"I'd like to see some strides before the end of the season," Kruger said.