MARCH 27 – Last-second lightning strikes twice for Mavericks basketball; this time for the Minnesota State women’s basketball team (31-5) which heads to Friday’s National Championship after beating Cal State San Marcos 70-68 with a game-winning layup from senior Emily Herzberg assisted by Natalie Bremer.
This Minnesota State team will take on Texas Woman’s University (34-4) in a rematch on Friday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. The women’s finals will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Earlier this season, without star senior guard Joey Batt, the Maverick women fell to TWU 76-71 at the MSU Billings Tournament back in early November. Minnesota State now has a chance for redemption; the team has beaten every team it’s fallen to this season. First, the Mavericks defeated the Bulldogs of UMD at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth and took down both Fort Hays State and Southern Nazarene in the semifinal and final rounds of the NCAA Central Region Tournament.
With the national semifinals win, Minnesota State improves to 31-5, one win shy of the program single-season wins record set by the 2008-09 National Championship team. That Mavericks squad went 32-2 by defeating Franklin Pierce in the highest-scoring championship final in NCAA DII history, 103-94. It was the last and only other time the Mavericks were in the championship game.
Herzberg’s winning basket came a week after the Maverick men’s 43-42 regional win March 21 before a packed home crowd with Elija Hazekamp’s nothing-but-net jumper as time expired against Northwest Missouri State. Advancing in their own national tourney, the Maverick men have their Final Four matchup Thursday, March 28, at 3:30 p.m. against West Texas A&M.
