The Free Press, Mankato, MN

College Sports

Related Photos

  • Pat Christman

    MSU basketball

November 18, 2009

Mavericks overwhelm Dana College 85-30

Denny Weller

MANKATO — Defending Division II national champion Minnesota State showed off its youth movement Tuesday night at Bresnan Arena, walloping Dana College 85-30 in a season-opening nonconference win.

Senior point guard Tiffany Moe scored 15 points and collected a team-best seven assists as the Mavericks’ team balance overwhelmed the NAIA Vikings, who fall to 0-6 on the season.

Moe got plenty of help from a bevy of new faces — freshman guard Sarah Wiens, freshman forward Ali Wilkinson and freshman guard Kirstin Wilson — along with 6-foot senior forward Liz Trauger and sophomores Laura Weber and Jennie Noreen.

“We’re young and it was a good game for us to get the jitters out,” Moe said. “We’re strong off the bench and everyone knows their roles. We work a lot more on defense than offense in practice. We were getting a lot of ball pressure tonight and it turned into our offense.”

Dana College scored the game’s first points — a free-throw line jumper from Kalen Larson — before Noreen’s foul shot sparked a string of 13 unanswered points by the Mavericks. Moe and Noreen buried 3-pointers in the burst while Trauger, Weber and Wilkinson each had a bucket.

Trauger’s off-balance banker off an inbound pass resulted in a three-point play moments later and the rout was on. Weber’s three-point play, along with an aggressive putback and elbow jumper from Wilkinson, helped Minnesota State extend its margin to 50-14 at the break.

“It was exciting,” Wilkinson said of her first collegiate game. “I had a lot of nerves coming in. It was a little rough at the beginning because we didn’t really know each other but we’ve progressed and gotten better every day.”

Minnesota State, which received 31 bench points, had 32 points off turnovers, and 36 points in the paint, received 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds from Wilkinson. Wiens nailed three 3-pointers in finishing with 13 points while Nelson tallied 10 points. Trauger, coming of season-ending knee injury late last year, totaled nine points, four rebounds and four assists.

The Mavericks committed just five total fouls while playing a swarming style of defense.

“Our defense is a lot about rotating, covering and helping out,” Minnesota State coach Pam Gohl said. “It starts with defense on the ball and I thought our on-ball defense was very good tonight.

“They zone us and we hit the outside shots and we were also able to hit our baseline cutter, too. Our young players have been doing well in practice and with 11 sophomore and freshmen we know we’re going to need something from them. ... I thought they did a great job.”

Ralene Buschow led the Vikings with eight points and nine boards.

Minnesota State will hoist its national title banner before Friday’s 6 p.m. Pepsi Tip-Off opener with Grand View.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
College Sports
  • MSU bball 3/15 2 Top-seeded Mavericks get knocked off by Huskies

    St. Cloud State advanced to the region championship game with an 83-71 victory Sunday, ending the season for the top-seeded Mavericks.

    March 15, 2010 2 Photos

  • xsmall_Schiller, Joe_PE6X7791.JPG Mavericks healthier but still hurting

    Michael Dorr and Eriah Hayes will be back in the lineup, but with six players still out with injury, center Joe Schiller will move to defense.

    November 3, 2011 1 Photo 1 Story

  • xsmall_Lee, Austin_PE6X7812.JPG College hockey gameday

    Minnesota State at Michigan Tech

    6:07 p.m. today and Saturday, MacInnes Student Ice Arena, Houghton, Mich.

    Radio: KTOE 1420 AM TV: None

    November 3, 2011 2 Photos 1 Story

  • Northern Sun to vote on expansion

    Today, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference board of directors will vote on whether to expand from 14 to 16 programs.

    January 19, 2011

  • Gusties ranked 8th in DIII

    The Gustavus Adolphus men’s hockey team is ranked eighth in the country, according to the first U.S. College Hockey Online poll released earlier this week.

    October 28, 2010

  • MSU w hock-9.jpg Sister support: Ariel the latest Mackley to shine for MSU

    Anyone familiar with women’s college hockey in southern Minnesota must know the Mackleys. Since the fall of 2004, at least one of the three Mackley sisters has been skating for Minnesota State or Gustavus Adolphus.

    October 7, 2010 1 Photo

  • msu hockey 10-4-1.jpg Zuck's goal lifts MSU past British Columbia

    MSU's Eli Zuck’s short-handed breakaway goal 100 seconds into the third period stood as the lone goal in the Mavericks’ 1-0 victory over British Columbia before an announced crowd of 2,236 at the Verizon Wireless Center.

    October 5, 2010 1 Photo

  • Young Mavericks look to prove rankings wrong

    The Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s preseason polls were released on Wednesday, and Minnesota State isn’t getting a lot of love from the league’s coaches nor from the media who cover the conference. Both polls put the Mavericks in 10th place in what is now a 12-team conference.

    October 2, 2010

  • gustfb 092510.jpg Clark, St. Olaf run past Gustavus

    St. Olaf halfback Leon Clark cut loose for 134 second-half yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds left to lift his team to a 19-14 victory over Gustavus Saturday.

    September 26, 2010 1 Photo

  • MSUfb 092510.jpg Mavericks get shocked at home

    Concordia upset No. 11 MSU 28-26 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game before 4,264 fans. It was the second time in the series history that MSU lost to Concordia.

    September 26, 2010 2 Photos