Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University senior guard Bri Stoltzman goes up for a layup during the first half of a women’s basketball game against Northern State University on Jan. 17 at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Heading into its final home game of the regular season, the No. 17 Southwest Minnesota State University womens basketball is riding a 15-game win streak. The Mustangs will look to carry that momentum to a senior-night victory when they host Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Minnesota Crookston on Saturday.

SMSU’s current win streak is the second-longest in program history, trailing only the team’s 20 consecutive wins in the 2001-02 season. Their current win total of 23 is also third in program history, trailing only the 2001-02 team’s 24 wins and the 2000-01 team’s 25.

Heading into the game, SMSU is 23-2 on the season. The Mustangs’ 17-2 conference record also gives them a half-game edge over second-place Concordia-St. Paul. Minnesota Crookston, meanwhile is 9-15 on the season and its 7-11 conference record has it tied with Minot State for ninth place in the 15-team league.

Since its last loss on Dec. 13, among SMSU’s wins was an 83-62 road win over Crookston on Jan. 3. Peyton Blandin scored a game-high 23 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field and 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point range. Her eight rebounds were also second only to Bri Stoltzman’s 12. Stoltzman also scored 20 points with seven assists in the win.

Last weekend, SMSU blew out Minnesota Duluth 89-63 and earned a 76-54 Tropical Night victory over Winona State. Stoltzman averaged 28.5 points per game on 59% shooting with 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in the pair of weekend victories, earning her sixth selection of the year as the NSIC’s Player of the Week.

Minnesota Crookston didn’t go unrecognized on last week’s Shining 5, with Riley Jenkins earning weekly honors after the Golden Eagles picked up a 70-59 win over Bemidji State and a 79-74 win over Northern State. Jenkins averaged 24 points per game in the wins, setting a career-high of 25 points in the win over Northern State while shooting 57.7% from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range on the weekend. She also averaged 5.5 rebounds per game.

Jenkins’ weekend performance brought her up to 11.8 points per game on the season, good for 19th in the conference. Yet, teammate Emma Miller has been the team’s No. 1 option for the bulk of the season, leading the conference with 21.9 points per game on 40.4% shooting from the field.

Still, SMSU brings more offensive firepower than most teams can handle. Stoltzman’s 20.8 points per game rank second in the NSIC while Blandin’s 15 and Audrey Swanson’s 14.6 rank ninth and 10th in the conference.

As a team, SMSU’s 82.8 points per game rank second only to Minnesota State’s 88.1. That mark isn’t just because of pace; SMSU’s 47.4% field goal percentage leads the conference and its 36.7% 3-point clip ranks second only to Sioux Falls’ 38.6%. On the defensive end, the Mustangs’ 36.6% opponent 3-point percentage and 37.9% opponent field goal percentage rank first and second in the conference.

Crookston has been a solid offensive team, ranking sixth in the NSIC with 67.7 points per game, but their 73.5 points allowed rank dead last.

Beyond just its scoring finesse, SMSU has been able to generate more opportunities with its effort on the glass. Swanson’s 9.2 total rebounds per game and Natalie Nielsen’s 3.2 offensive rebounds per game both lead the conference. As a result, SMSU’s plus-7.6 margin on the glass leads the NSIC.

Crookston, meanwhile, is 12th in the conference with a minus-5 margin despite Nicole Hernandez (4th, 8.2) and Jenkins (12th, 6.5) both ranking in the top 15 of the conference individually in rebounds per game.

Tip-off for Saturday’s game is slated for 7 p.m. in the R/A Facility. A radio broadcast of the game is available on 105.1 KARL while live stats and video can be found online at SMSUmustangs.com.