DENTON, Texas — Midwestern State turned up the defensive pressure to come away with its third consecutive win taking a 62-48 decision over St. Mary's (Texas) Saturday afternoon in the TWU Pioneer Premiere.

"This is a determined group which doesn't seem to be bothered by trailing too much in the game," MSU coach Noel Johnson said. "It gives the coaching staff some gray hair. We were able to tire them out from free throw line to free throw line and start to control the pace in the second half."

The Mustangs limited St. Mary's to 26.5-percent shooting from the field in the second half, while working for 52.6 shooting percentage on the offensive end of the floor as MSU finished the night making 31 trips to the charity stripe.

Seniors Lisa Hampton and Dianna Jones led a group of four players in double figures with 11 points each for the Mustangs, while Andrea Carter and Taylor Dowd pitched in 10 points each.

St. Mary's led by as many as eight points in the opening half opening up a 19-11 edge when Morgan Pullins hit a baseline jumper with 6:08 to go in the first half.

Pullins, who was coming off of a 31-point effort Friday against Texas Woman's, finished with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while STMU senior point guard Dezirae Elias added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

"We weren't able to control (Pullins) very well when she got into the paint. She is just so athletic," Johnson said. "We were looking forward to seeing how we matched up with their point guard play and Elias."

The Mustangs erupted for a 14-1 run late in the opening half beginning with a traditional three-point play by Shatoia Gober bookended by Lisa Hampton's first 3-pointer of the game 39 seconds before intermission to give MSU a 25-20 advantage.

St. Mary's came back to take a brief lead early in the second half before Hampton and Gober connected on consecutive triples to give the Mustangs the lead for good.

MSU then went on a 9-1 run to establish a 42-33 advantage on a Shambreka Jones layup with 10:12 to play and stretched the lead out to 18 down the stretch.

Carter notched her third consecutive double-double finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Shambreka Jones had seven points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

Gober completed another solid all-around game with seven points, five rebounds and four assists.

Midwestern State takes on Oklahoma Panhandle State Tuesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.