Mavericks Blow Past Seawolves

With the smiles and laughs being shared between members of the Minnesota State women’s basketball team, one would’ve never known that 24 hours ago Heather Johnson played one of her worst games of the season. Luckily for Johnson and the Mavericks, they still found a way to win.

It would have been easy for Johnson to hang her head during Wednesday’s semifinal matchup against Alaska-Anchorage, but she knew Tuesday’s performance didn’t matter. The senior guard knew that any member of the team could pick her up.

But Johnson took matters into her own hands at Bill Greehey Arena, scoring 25 points to lead the Mavericks to their first-ever national championship game in a 83-60 massacre against the Seawolves.

“As long as I can come in and contribute,” Johnson said. “Anything I can do to help us win, whether it’s an assist, rebound, or defensively.”

Johnson electrified the Mavericks from the start – showing no signs of her struggles from the night before – as she scored 15 points in the first half and didn’t miss a shot from the floor, and was 3 for 3 from the 3-point line.

“We’ve been shooting pretty well throughout the course of the year,” said MSU head coach Pam Gohl. “But you never know if your shots are going to go in or if you’re going to be a little tight on your jumpers. The girls were relaxed and they just did a great job of knocking their shots down.”
The topic of the night wasn’t supposed to be about Johnson and the guards, but instead on the post play of UAA’s Rebecca Kielpinski and whether the Mavericks could match up with the All-American center.

Alex Andrews answered that question in the first half, as she and Mari Korton held Kielpinski to just two points, as she shot 1 for 3 from the field.

“We weren’t too worried about the big girls,” Andrews said. “We knew what we had to do and had to try and be as big as we could.”

The second half was more of the same for the Mavericks. But this time they got more players involved and were able to stretch the lead.

As Gohl’s said before, the Mavericks have so many dangerous players, some fans might not even see on the court.

One of those players is senior center Teresa Parker. Parker played in just 10 games this season and has seen minimal minutes. Gohl decided to sub in Parker midway through the second half, hoping it might give the lineup a boost.

It turned out to be a smart move as she had a team-high three blocks in just 10 minutes of work. And during every one of those blocks, every member of the bench was on their feet.

“We’ve had so much confidence coming down here,” Andrews said. “Like with Teresa stepping up, we have so much confidence in each other that we knew that whoever we faced—you can’t stop all of us on this team.”

The Mavericks will likely be on their feet for a few more hours, trying to settle down from the excitement.

“These girls have managed to understand the difference between celebrating after a big win and focusing on the next game,” Gohl said. “They’ve been so focused that I think we’ll be OK.”

The Mavericks have done more than what’s been expected, as they’re just two days away from a chance at making history.

The dream of bringing a national championship back to Mankato is no longer out of the question, as the Mavericks are just one game away from turning their dream into a reality.