Women’s hoops stops MSU

Andrea Shogren

The SCSU women’s basketball team started the second half of the season off on the right foot Saturday night when they faced Minnesota State, Mankato on the road. Thanks to great shooting by guards Jessica Abrahams and Andrea Shogren, the Huskies were able to complete the season sweep over the Mavericks with a 80-72 win.

The Huskies got to work quickly on the Mavericks as they opened the game with a 9-0 lead. The Mavericks then answered with a 9-0 run to tie the game. The Mavericks only lead of the night was 31-30 with 1:46 left in the first half. Although Schreiner was shooting only 4-12 with nine points, the Huskies went in to the locker room with a 37-33 lead.

The Huskies used their bench to break open a 10-point lead with about nine minutes left in the game. The starters would return to give the Huskies their biggest lead of the night at 69-56 with 7:16 remaining in the game.

The Huskies often missed solid play from their guards in the first half of the season which may have led to their sub .500 record. Especially with the Huskies’ three guard offense, Abrahams and Shogren’s shooting is crucial to this team’s success.

“As a guard we need to step up and open it up for Tina (Schreiner) so that they have to come out and play defense on us. We can’t let them get away with double and triple teaming Tina,” Shogren said.

After a foot injury and being sick, a healthy Abrahams brought her “A” game with her to Mankato. She went 3-4 from the three point arch and had 18 points.

“It was a huge win for us tonight. It was nice to play as a team and start the second half of the conference with a win,” Abrahams said. “We knew we had to come out and play our game and we needed a win.”

Five Huskies scored in double figures. Kristine DeGroot had 12 points, Nicole Persby had 11 points, and Shogren added 10 points.

“It will change every night. Different people will get their shots. Some nights Tina will take over and other nights it will be Nic (Persby). Tonight (the guards) were open and we needed to hit open shots,” Abrahams said.

Junior Kris Wolle tied a career high 23 points and eight rebounds for Mankato and teammate Susan Salonek added 17 points. Mankato dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-6 in the NCC. The Huskies moved to 10-8 overall and 5-5 in the NCC.

The Huskies will return to Halenbeck Hall next weekend for a Friday night game against Augustana and a Saturday night game against the first place South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

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Bobby Hart can be reached at: [email protected]

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