Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University guard Bri Stoltzman (2) drives past a Northern State defender during the first half of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference womens basketball game on Friday night at the R/A Facility in Marshall. Stoltzman scored a career-high 41 points as SMSU defeated Northern State.

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MARSHALL — Bri Stoltzman started off the No. 23 Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball team’s game against Northern State on Friday red hot. The senior guard scored 16 first-quarter points on perfect shooting and finished with a career-high 41 as the Mustangs pulled away early for an 82-72 win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

Stoltzman finished the night with a career-high 39 points points, besting her 36-point performance against Northwest Missouri State last season. Her previous career-high against a conference opponent was 31 in a win over Minnesota Duluth last season, and she scored 30 in an NSIC tournament win over Northern State last season as well.

The performance made Stoltzman the first Mustang since Michelle Bruns in 2004 to eclipse 40 points. Bruns was also the last Mustang to hit 15 or more field goals in a game before Stoltzman’s 15 of 19 outing on Friday.

Coming off an NSIC Player of the Week selection, Stoltzman continued to look like the class of the conference early with perfect 7 of 7 shooting in the frame. She went into the locker room for halftime still near-perfect, shooting 9 of 10 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers with a hand in her face as SMSU led 46-27.

While the Mustangs held a narrow 25-22 edge in the rebounding battle at halftime, the Wolves dominated the offensive glass in the second quarter. Northern State grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the frame. Still, the Mustangs mitigated the damage and held Northern State to 4 second-chance points off those rebounds.

SMSU has thrived in the interior this season but also had their shots falling from long range. The Mustangs connected on five of their seven second-quarter 3-point attempts while Northern State missed each of their four attempts. Maddie Thorfinnson, Peyton Blandin, Nicole Maenke, Brynn Busse and Stoltzman each knocked down one from beyond the arc.

The Mustangs opened the game scoring each of the first 7 points, including a pair apiece from Audrey Swanson and Thorfinnson and another 3 from Stoltzman. Michaela Jewett ended the NSU drought with a jumper three minutes in, but Stoltzman answered with one of her own on each of the next two possessions and eventually hit a free throw to give the Mustangs their first double-digit lead, 14-4 with five minutes left in the first.

SMSU built its lead up to as many as 21 points with nine minutes left in the third. Yet, Northern State kept coming. The Wolves cut SMSU’s lead down to 5 with a Madelyn Bragg layup with 90 seconds to play.

Yet, with the game on the line, Natalie Nielsen stepped up when it mattered most. She received a hot potato as time winded down on the shot clock in the final minute, but attempted a shot from beyond the arc and knocked it down for her first career 3-pointer, a dagger.

After Nielsen’s shot, 52 seconds remained on the clock in a three-possession game. On the defensive end, she came up big again with a steal to prevent Northern State from getting the opportunity to make it a two possession game again. The Wolves intentionally fouled Stoltzman and she knocked down both shots to surpass the 40-point milestone and seal the win.

SMSU improves to 15-2 overall and 9-2 in the NSIC with the win, keeping them tied with No. 22 Concordia-St. Paul for second place in the NSIC behind Minnesota State’s 12-0 mark. The Mustangs will look to extend their win streak to seven games when they host sixth-place UMary (9-6, 6-5 NSIC) today at 5:30 p.m.