SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Midwestern State shrugged off a decade of struggles at Junell Center Saturday night coming away with a 69-59 win over Angelo State.
 
The Mustangs improved to 9-3 on the season while moving to 4-2 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
"That was a big win. We hit some shots down the stretch that we needed to and were able to get to the free throw line," MSU coach Noel Johnson said. "We had a little more pep in our step on defense."
 
The win is the first for Midwestern State in its 11^th try against Angelo State since the Junell Center opened in 2002. MSU did beat Cameron in its first game on the floor in the 2002 Lone Star Conference Championship semifinals.
 
Junior guard Kirsti Degelia splashed in a game-high 19 points while sophomore guard Dianna Jones dominated in the second half scoring each of her 15 points after intermission.
 
But it was Andrea Carter who provided the spark for the Mustangs serving as the catalyst in a 9-0 run midway through the second half. The sophomore from Angleton made three of her five steals and had a block during the run as MSU extended a slim one-point lead into a 47-37 advantage on Carter's steal and layup with 7:42 to play.
 
The hot stretch allowed the Mustangs to overcome a sluggish start in the first half as MSU struggled to 37-percent shooting from the floor but trailed by a single point at 25-24.
 
"We had a little heart-to-heart about our effort," Johnson said. "(Angelo State has some) active, physical players. Andrea was able to get a few steals in the half court and we fed off of that."
 
Jones provided an offensive lift seemingly getting to the rim at will throughout much of the second half hitting 5-of-8 shots from the field while connecting on each of her five free throws in the final stanza.
 
"When (Jones) turns the corner and decides to go score, she is very dynamic. When she is on, she's on," Johnson said. "We feed off of that big time. She stepped up as a leader for us at the point guard position."
 
The Mustangs also turned the tables on the 'Belles by constantly posting up Degelia who finished just 5-for-10 from the field but worked her way to the line for eight made throws in 10 attempts.
 
"We posted her up a little bit," Johnson said. "They are really notorious about posting up guard. We wanted to give them some of what they have given us."
 
The Mustangs also used an active 2-3 zone defense to hold Angelo State to 35.7-percent shooting from the floor.
 
Carter finished the game with 10 points, seven rebounds and five steals while sophomore guard Shatoia Gober pitched in seven points.
 
Lauren Holt paced the Belles (6-6, 3-3) with 16 points and five rebounds.
 
Midwestern State completes a four-game road trip Wednesday at Texas A&M-Commerce. Tipoff at A&M-Commerce Fieldhouse is slated for 5:30 p.m.