SIOUX FALLS, SD - For the second straight year, the University of Mary Women's Basketball team finished their season at the Sanford Pentagon in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 NSIC Women's Basketball Championships. After an intense first half and physical basketball game all the way through, the Marauders fell to #11 Minnesota State University (24-3, 19-3 NSIC) 81-66 Saturday night on Heritage Court. 

UMary Women's Basketball finished their season with a 14-13 overall record and 12-10 in the Northern Sun, marking their first winning season since 2019-20. The Marauders also earned back-to-back NSIC quarterfinal finishes for the first time since the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Friday night's win over Wayne State also makes them the second team in Northern Sun history to win back-to-back road or neutral site first round postseason games. 

The first quarter set the tone for a physical contest with four lead changes and the Marauders edging the Mavericks 21-20 after the first ten minutes. The game remained close in the second with both squads trading the lead five more times. Natalie Bremer led the #4 scoring offense in the nation back out in front of the Marauders 38-35 at halftime. 

The Marauders dominated at the boards 29-16 in rebounding, for which they scored 22 points inside the paint and 11 more on second chance putbacks in the first half. The Mavericks created pressure defensively forcing 15 turnovers and capitalizing for 18 fast break points. 

A pair of six and five point runs helped accelerate the Mavericks momentum early in the third quarter. UMary's offense started to cool off momentarily in the third as they would only shoot 2-12 from the field. 

MSU entered the fourth quarter up 58-46, but UMary would not relent. Megan Voit unleashed a trio of threes to cut the lead back down to 70-64 with 3:36 to go. Despite their best efforts to mount a comeback, the Mavericks ultimately put the game away 81-66 to advance to the NSIC semifinals Monday afternoon. Minnesota State shot 30-71 from the field (42.3%) while UMary finished 21-57 (36.8%). 

The Marauders return 11 players from another exciting team, including first-team all-NSIC members Megan Zander and Lexie Schneider, who missed this season due to injury. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Megan Voit ended her historic career by matching her senior season-high point total of 18. Voit finishes her career with 837 points in the orange and blue, and ranks 2nd in NCAA-era program history in three-pointers made with 219. 

Megan Zander finished her outstanding season with a double-double. The senior from Mandan, ND scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Zander was also a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. 

Addison Rozell finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds. 

Moriku Hakim and Reese Wishart added nine and eight points off the bench. 

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