Rochester, Minn. --- The #17 Minnesota State women’s basketball team downed Winona State in the semifinal round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament, 73-57 to improve to 25-4 overall and will advance to the conference championship Saturday, at 3 p.m. Box Score
 
The Mavericks struck first by way of a Karlee Gengenbacher layup, MSU lost the lead with 16:30 remaining in the opening frame, but would regain it with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half, taking a 16-13 lead. The Mavericks took a 37-28 lead into intermission.
 
Sophomore Aubrey Davis and senior Jameila Hudnell paced MSU in the opening stanza, each scoring seven points.
 
MSU connected on 14-of-30 (47%) of its shots from the field and 3-of-9 (33%) from behind the arc in the first half. Winona State converted on 10-of-23 (44%) of its shots from the floor, while going 3-of-8 (38%) from downtown, the Warriors committed 11 first half turnovers compared to four by the Mavericks.
 
The Mavericks saw their lead cut to six points in the opening seconds of the second half, but MSU would have nothing to do with a Warrior comeback as it extended its lead to 10 points, leading 59-49 with 7:30 remaining in the game.
 
MSU would go on to win the contest by a score of 73-57 earning its 25th win of the 2012-13 campaign, the first 25 win season since the Mavericks won the national title during the 2008-09 season, posting a 32-2 record.
 
All eight Mavericks that saw the court made their way into the scoring column led by junior Steffaney Thomas who finished with 16 points and was one of three MSU student-athletes to net double-digit points. She was joined by Davis and junior Ali Wilkinson who finished with 13 points and 11 points respectively.
 
The Warriors were led by Katie Wolff who netted 27 points, while Michelle Tobin scored 12 points and hauled in 12 rebounds.
 
Collectively, MSU connected on 26-of-56 (46%) of its shots from the floor, 15-of-19 (79%) from behind the arc and 15-of-19 from the charity stripe while Winona State shot 18-of-52 (35%) from the floor, 7-of-25 (28%) from downtown while going 14-of-19 from the charity stripe, the Warriors committed 20 turnovers to the Mavericks 11.
 
The Mavericks will compete in the conference title game Saturday at 3 p.m., and will face the winner of the Concordia-St. Paul/Augustana game, slated for later today.
 
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