Mavericks capture second national title at Civic Arena
By Jacob Meikel
15 years since its first Division II national championship, the confetti fell for the Mavericks of Minnesota State once again on Friday at Civic Arena.
Its 89-73 victory over Texas Woman’s saw the Mavericks hoist another Division II national championship trophy in downtown St. Joseph, in what was a dominant performance by Minnesota State from start to finish.
“It’s amazing to see how we came together and get to this point,” Minnesota State senior Joey Batt said after the game.
The two teams met earlier in the season when Batt was available for the Mavericks, and it was the Pioneers who came away with a 76-71 victory in early November with Batt’s absence. Fast forward to late March and Batt’s presence would make a real difference the second time these two teams would face this season.
“Full circle to be in that exact same locker room at this stage of the season against a familiar opponent that we would have seen at that time,” Minnesota State head coach Emilee Thiesse said. “I just cannot express how proud of this basketball team I am.”
Texas Woman’s would strike first on the scoreboard, but the Pioneers’ 2-0 lead wouldn’t last long. In fact, it would be the last time they would see the lead the rest of the game as the Mavericks would go on a 19-5 run to give themselves plenty of cushion.
The conditioning and relentless pressure by Minnesota State, particularly by Batt and the back court, would help the team build a good enough lead to where the Mavericks could make Texas Woman’s play at a pace it wasn’t used to. The speeding up of the pace of play would cause the Pioneers to commit 30 turnovers in the ball game, giving Minnesota State a plethora of extra possessions.
A 13-point lead after the first quarter would eventually balloon to a 25-point lead by the Mavericks early in the fourth quarter before Texas Woman’s would make one last surge in the fourth that just wasn’t enough to dig themselves out of the hole they were in. Despite the loss, Texas Woman’s head coach Beth Jillson was able to add a positive perspective on the experience the team had throughout the week as the Pioneers competed in their first national championship game in program history.
“It’s been an amazing experience. I’m so thankful to the city of St. Joe and for all the people who put this on, I mean, it has been a first class event,” Jillson said.
