Centennial Student Union Blog
Members of the Maverick women’s and men’s NCAA Division II Basketball National Champions took time for Sittin’ with Stomper on April 12 before heading to the Twin Cities to be honored by the Minnesota Timberwolves at their home game with Atlanta. See the photos on the CSU Blog.
April 14 – Minnesota State head coach Shari Dickerman and assistant coach, Alli Altmann, earned the silver medal at this year’s IIHF Women’s World Championships after Team USA suffered a 6-5 loss in overtime to Canada in the championship game. Dickerman, who was an All-American for the Mavericks in goal during her playing career from 2000-2004, was named the fifth head coach in Minnesota State history this past March. Altmann, who played for the Mavericks from 2008-12 and concluded her first year as an assistant coach on the Maverick staff and \served as Team USA’s goaltending coach.
APRIL 1 – Minnesota State men’s basketball coach Matt Margenthaler has been named the 2024 Division II Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. This is the first time that Margenthaler has been named the NABC DII Coach of the Year. Earlier this season, he earned his fourth NSIC Coach of the Year award. He was also named the NABC Central Region Coach of the Year. The national award is sponsored by the Marines.
APRIL 4 – Mavericks Men’s Basketball Coach Matt Margenthaler was featured in an extended interview with KFAN’s Justin Gaard as part of Thursday, April 4, broadcast of the Dan Barreiro Bumper-to-Bumper show.
Rebroadcast of 24-minute interview can be found on the Dan Barreiro Podcast found on iHeart Radio, Spotify and other streaming platforms. Margenthaler’s interview starts at 21:00 into the second segment of the April 4 podcast.
Denisha Cartwright, Mavericks’ All-American senior sprinter, began her outdoor track and field season with NSIC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week Honors. Cartwright placed first with a time of 12.81 seconds in the 100m hurdles at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Her time ranks first in NCAA Division II this season. Her prelim time of 11.17 (2.9 wind) in the 100m dash ranks first nationally and broke her own school record.
Mavericks freshman Jabez Reeves and senior Shemar Miller earned NSIC Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors Tuesday, April 2. Reeves (Woodbridge, Virginia) ran a time of 10.37 (2.2 wind) in the 100m dash at the 96th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. The NCAA provisional time leads the NSIC and ranks sixth in NCAA Division II this season. Miller (St. Elizabeth, Jamaica) placed seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 15.65m (51-4.25). He ranks second in NCAA Division II this season.
MARCH 27 – The Mavericks Women’s Basketball Team advance to the NCAA DII NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Friday after defeating Cal State San Marcos Wednesday night 70-68. The win came on an Emily Herzberg layup with 0.2 seconds left in the game. The Mavericks go for the national title Friday at 7 p.m. against Texas Woman’s University. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
MARCH 25 – The Maverick women’s basketball team advance Wednesday, March 27, to the NCAA DII National Final Four to face the Cal State San Marco Cougars after defeating Georgia Southwestern State 93-88. The Maverick overcame a 10-point first half deficit led by senior guard Joey Batt with 21 points. The Cougars beat top-seed Gannon U. in overtime.
MARCH 25 – Malik Willingham was named to the NABC All-Central District First Team. The Mavericks’ senior guard from Waseca, Minn., led the team this season in scoring averaging 18.9 points per game. Earlier this season, he was named the NSIC Player of the Year and the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year.
MARCH 25 – Matt Margenthaler, Mavericks Men’s basketball coach, is the NABC Central District Coach of the Year. Earlier this season, Margenthaler was named NSIC Coach of the Year for the fourth time. The Mavericks face Ferris State in NCAA Division II Elite Eight National Tournament.
MARCH 22 – Maverick Women’s Basketball senior guard Joey Batt, from New Ulm, is one of the WBCA’s NCAA DII Women’s Basketball All-Americans for 2023-24. Leading the Mavericks to the NCAA DII regional title, Batt is the first Maverick All-American to earn All-American honors since 2009. The Mavericks (29-5) take on Georgia Southwestern (29-3) on Monday, March, in the first round of the NCAA DII Elite Eight National Tourney in St. Joseph, Mo.
MARCH 22 – Tony Malinowski, Maverick Men’s Hockey 2023-24 assistant captain, has signed with the Reading Royals, an affiliate with NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. He joins Sam Morton as the second Maverick to sign professional contracts in a week’s time. Morton signed with the Calgary Flames/Calgary Wranglers.
MARCH 18 | BETHANY, Okla. (Maverick Report) – The #7 seed Minnesota State Mavericks (29-5) win the NCAA Central Region Tournament Championship, 80-48, in an upset victory over the #1 seed Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm (30-3). Joey Batt and Destinee Bursch combined for 51 points. The Mavericks advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since the National Championship team in 2008-09.
MARCH 18 – Minnesota State senior captain Sam Morton from Lafayette, Colo., has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the National Hockey League’s Calgary Flames organization. His contract will begin with the 2024-25 season. He will be joining the Wranglers (AHL) on an amateur tryout contract (ATO) for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. Former Maverick Walker Duehr (2017-22) plays on the Flames’ current NHL roster.
Denisha Cartwright, the Mavericks national record holder in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, was named NCAA Division II Central Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year on Friday, March 15. The recognition by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association follows Cartwright’s National NCAA D2 Title in the indoor women’s 60-meter hurdles. Cartwright’s record-setting time of 7.93 is the third highest in all levels of NCAA competition.
Minnesota State senior Malik Willingham has earned D2CCA All-Central Region Player of the Year honors for his efforts this season with the Maverick men’s basketball team. A guard from Waseca, Minn., Willingham averaged 19.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game this season. He has scored 20 points or more in 14 games this season, including a season-high 33 points vs. Sioux Falls in the second round of the NSIC Tournament.
Maverick Men’s Hockey senior captain Sam Morton was named CCHA Player of the Year. The announcement on Friday, March 15, marks an exceptional season where Morton leads first in goals, first in shots, first in faceoff wins and first in power-play goals.
Mavericks’ star guard Joey Batt was named to the D2CCA Women’s Basketball All-Central Region First Team for her performance in 2023-24. The New Ulm, Minn., native was named both the NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year as well as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in her career. She was also named to the NSIC All-Conference First Team.
MARCH 11 – Shari Dickerman has been named the fifth Head Coach in Minnesota State women’s hockey history. Dickerman has been a member of the coaching staff since 2009 and served as Acting Head Coach earlier this season during Head Coach John Harrington’s medical leave of absence. Dickerman is a former Maverick All-American goaltender (2000-04). She has played or coached 174 Minnesota State women’s hockey current and former student-athletes.
An Irish connection led the Maverick Handball team to its third consecutive national collegiate championship. Mark Doyle of Wexford, Ireland, and Clodagh Monroe from Carrickmore, Northern Ireland, claimed their first open singles titles in their respective men’s and women’s divisions at the U.S. Handball Associations Collegiate National Champions concluding Feb. 16 in Minneapolis. The Mavericks swept the men’s, women’s and combined competitions with 4584 total points far outdistancing its nearest competitor, Missouri State University, with 4213 points.