PITTSBURG, Kan. – The No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State University women's basketball team dropped a hard fought battle to the No. 7 Pittsburg State Gorillas, 85-82, in the NCAA Central Region Championship on Monday night in John Lance Arena.

SMSU finishes the season 28-5 overall, while PSU moves to 32-3 and advances to the elite eight.

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 43 percent (32 of 75) from the field including 38 percent (8 of 21) from beyond the arc. The Gorillas ended the night shooting 46 percent (30 of 65) from the field while making just one of 14 attempts from beyond the arc.

SMSU was led by Bri Stoltzman, who poured in 31 points, five assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Audrey Swanson logged her 17th double-double of the season scoring 27 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, while Peyton Blandin added 13 points and eight rebounds. 

A layup from Peyton Blandin on the game's first possession gave SMSU an early lead before the Gorillas grabbed the next seven points to lead 7-2 with 7:25 left in the first quarter. The Mustangs went 4 of 4 from the field to turn the game around over the next two minutes and led 11-8 after four minutes of play.

The final 27 points of the first quarter would nearly be traded evenly, with the Mustangs edging out the Gorillas 14-13 down the stretch to hold a four-point lead heading into the second quarter.

PSU's Karenna Gerber took control of the game to open the second quarter, scoring nine points in two minutes to spearhead an 11-6 run that gave the Gorillas the lead. Now, it was Audrey Swanson's turn to take over, as she scored 10 of the next 18 SMSU points to help the Mustangs to an 11-point lead at halftime.

SMSU closed the first half shooting 46 percent (20 of 44) from the field including 50 percent (6 of 12) from beyond the arc.

The Gorillas outscored the Mustangs 11-9 through the first four and a half minutes of the second half before Peyton Blandin drained a timely 3-pointer to give SMSU the momentum. The Mustangs increased their lead to 14 points at 4:29 before the Gorillas made five of its next six field goals to storm back and cut the deficit to five heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams evenly traded the first eight points of the fourth quarter before the Gorillas limited the Mustangs to zero field goals over nearly three minutes to tie the game with 4:46 to play.  The next minute and a half saw baskets fall in succession for each team leading to two tie scores until the Gorillas pulled ahead to lead by four with just over a minute to play.

Peyton Blandin knocked down a clutch 3-pointer with 40 seconds on the clock, but the comeback effort stalled there as PSU sank a pair of free throws to close out the game.

Stoltzman and Swanson were both named to the all-tournament team.

The region final loss is the final game in the brown and gold for Mustang seniors Peyton Blandin, Kenzie Jones, and Bri Stoltzman.