Box Score (PDF)

THE RUNDOWN
BETHANY, Okla. – Southern Nazarene used a 24-11 run and seven three-pointers in the second half to take its largest lead of the game at 77-59 before holding off a Midwestern State rally in the final minutes to earn an 89-82 victory Saturday afternoon at the Sawyer Center.
 
Southern Nazarene (2-2) extended on a narrow one-point halftime lead in the first four minutes of the third quarter with a Danielle Gaddis jumper giving the Crimson Storm a 10-point advantage at 47-37 with 6:08 remaining. SNU held a double-digit lead for a majority of the quarter until a three-pointer for Mica Schneider and a jumper for Micheline Mercelita cut the SNU lead to five with 2:10 to play.
 
A pair of three-pointers for the Crimson Storm stretched their lead to 68-54 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Kristin Rydell scored five-straight points for Midwestern State (2-3) to bring the Mustangs within nine before SNU answered with an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the contest at 77-59 with 6:01 to play.
 
Triples for Schneider and Whitney Taylor pulled the Mustangs within 10 points before a basket for Liz Cathcart made it a seven-point game with 1:12 left on the clock. A Cathcart basket brought MSU to as close as five in the final minute but the Crimson Storm kept the Mustangs from evening up the game with a seven-point victory.
 
In the opening quarter, Midwestern State jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first seven minutes following a Cathcart jumper. SNU put together an 8-0 run to claim a 12-10 lead early in the second quarter before the Mustangs responded with an 8-0 run of their own with Rydell netting four points in the spurt. It was a close contest the rest of the period with SNU taking a 34-33 lead at the break.

NOTES
- Whitney Taylor scored a season-high 19 points to lead Midwestern State
- Taylor finished with seven rebounds and career highs of five assists, four steals and two blocks to lead the Mustangs
- Liz Cathcart reached double figures for the second time this season with 11 points in just 15 minutes of action
- Micheline Mercelita scored in double figures for the second-straight game with 10 points
- Midwestern State shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field and finished with a 86.4 percentage (19-of-22) from the free-throw line with Taylor shooting a perfect 7-for-7 and Jasmine Richardson hitting 6-of-6 from the line
- Southern Nazarene connected on 11 three-pointers while going 18-of-21 from the charity stripe 
- The Crimson Storm shot 47.6 percent (30-of-63) from the floor  
- SNU's Callee Mason finished with 26 points on 6-of-10 from behind the arc and 6-of-6 from the line while also leading the team with nine rebounds

STAT OF THE GAME
7 – Southern Nazarene connected on seven three-pointers in a 12:08 span in the second half

UP NEXT 
Midwestern State begins Lone Star Conference play on the road Thursday at 5:30 p.m. against rival Tarleton State at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville