Photo by Samantha Davis. Southwest Minnesota State University's Natalie Nielsen drives the lane in the first half against University of Sioux Falls Saturday afternoon at the R/A Facility. Nielsen led all scorers with 20 points in the Mustangs 93-61 win over the Cougars.

MARSHALL — In the final game of 2024 with fans sporting festive holiday sweaters in the R/A Facility bleachers, the Southwest Minnesota State University women’s basketball team are closing out the year with a 93-61 conference win over University of Sioux Falls after fighting a slow start.

“Playing a conference game is always going to be tough, especially right before Christmas break. Sioux Falls is a tough team, so it was really fun to play against them,” Bri Stoltzman said. “I think that second half definitely picked up our momentum. We got energy, and we just kept going.”

SMSU outshined USF 24-5 in fast break points and 42-30 with points in the paint, despite the Mustangs finishing with 21 turnovers to the Cougars’ 10.

Natalie Nielsen led all scorers with 20 points, and Audrey Swanson finished with a double-double 10 points to 13 rebounds. Stoltzman tallied 16 points, and Peyton Blandin had 19 points behind four 3-pointers.

SMSU overall shot 49.3% from the field and 44.4% from the 3 going 6 for 15, and limited USF to a 35.3% field goal mark and 19% 3-point clip.

Stoltzman broke her career high with nine assists in the fourth quarter, which also was a game-high.

“I just love passing to my teammates. All of them can shoot it anywhere from any spot,” Stoltzman said. “Giving it to Natalie, I feel like I know that’s going in, so I’m going to do it every time I can. Same with Audrey and P [Peyton].”

The game started as a dogfight, with both teams making errors and fixing them as time went on. SMSU found themselves down by a point after the first quarter, but climbed to a 5 point edge by halftime. The Mustangs turned things around and pulled away early in the second half after creating a quick double-digit lead.

“We just got to make some shots earlier, and that affected us defensively. The tempo was not good, the pace was not good. We couldn’t get into our flow,” SMSU head coach Tom Webb said. “Then in the second half, we took care of business.”

A difference maker in the change of game momentum was SMSU’s second quarter 3-point shooting. It out-shot USF 6-1 from the arc, after struggling to break down the Cougars’ zone defense. The shots continued to fall from there.

The first quarter was back and forth, and neither team allowed more than a 3-point edge. The Cougars ended the first 10 minutes up 18-17.

USF went into zone defense a few minutes into the game, which flustered SMSU’s offense on a few occasions with four forced turnovers.

“We’re very unselfish, which is a really good thing, but at times you can overpass it in the zone, because there’s a lot of pockets,” Webb said. “Sometimes we have to be a little bit more aggressive … We just were a little hesitant, and then we got in a flow and were in good shape.”

Swanson got back-to-back steals to counteract the turnovers, both of which resulted in fast break points for the Mustangs.

SMSU’s adjustment to the zone was finding 6-foot-3 Nielsen inside the post, the tallest player between both teams, who ended the quarter with a team-high 7 points.

USF also outrebounded SMSU 18-11 in the first quarter, showcasing another challenge the Mustangs needed to address. The Cougars had 7 second chance points to the Mustangs’ 2.

“I think that we just had to get tougher, kind of just be ‘us’ more,” Stoltzman said.

The second quarter saw 7 3-pointers, six of which came from SMSU who built up a 40-35 lead going into the locker room.

“Webb set us up for success in the second quarter. He got after us to use our legs,” Stoltzman said. “He’s on us about how to shoot it, and he’s a really good coach.”

Blandin hit three of those 3-pointers, which sparked some energy back into the Mustangs’ who were able to limit turnovers while forcing some, and got more players involved on offense.

“Peyton Blandin is playing like the best player in the league. She is probably the best player in the league in my eyes,” Stoltzman said.

At the half, both SMSU and USF were shooting 40% from the field, while SMSU was holding a 40% mark from the arc to the Cougars’ 30% clip.

A significant difference in the defensive action was SMSU’s four blocks to Sioux Fall’s zero. Nielsen had a pair, while Maddie Thorfinnson and Swanson each tallied one as well.

SMSU pulled away and set the tone for the rest of the game right away in the second half, going on an 8-0 run to force an early USF timeout.

Grabbing two steals, Stoltzman had 4 quick points off a jumper and fast break layup, while Nielsen and Swanson also hit a field goal for SMSU to secure a 48-35 advantage.

“The cool part about her [Stoltzman] is she knows how to score, and that’s great, but she’ll find her teammates,” Webb said regarding Stoltzman’s playmaking style. “She wants her teammates to succeed. She cheers for her teammates, and that’s when it’s fun.”

Stoltzman and Blandin again hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and the Mustangs earned a 20-point lead 59-39 with a pair of Kenzie Jones free throws after being fouled going up for a layup.

Thorfinnson opened the fourth quarter with a 4-point play after being fouled at the 3 as she made the shot, along with the free throw.

SMSU was firing on all cylinders in the final quarter on both ends of the court to finish the afternoon with the dominating win.

Through the second half, the Mustangs out-rebounded USF 28-12.

The Mustangs improve to 11-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

SMSU will have some time off and will next return to the court at Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 3 at 5:30 p.m. before beginning a 4-game homestand.

“We’re going to come back humble and hungry,” Stoltzman said. “We know that everyone in that NSIC is a really good team. We know we’re going to face off against teams in our conference, so we are going to come back ready to work.”