On an afternoon with a couple of big Bulldog career milestones, the No. 5 University of Minnesota Duluth women's hockey team simply took care of business.

The Bulldogs upheld their new national ranking Friday with a 4-2 defeat of Minnesota State University Mankato at AMSOIL Arena.  Gabbie Hughes led all players with three assists, while her linemate, Anna Klein, chimed in for two assists.  Both players reached career milestones in the contest.

Klein's first shift of the game put her at a program record 148 consecutive games played, a mark held by Sidney Morin (2013-2017) until Friday.  The durable captain has never missed a game in more than 4 and a half years of college hockey – a remarkable feat.

"It's crazy to think how many games I have been able to play," said Klein after the game.  "I've been super fortunate not to get any major injuries, knock on wood, but it's fun. I'm happy that this is something that I've been able to do for so long and I haven't taken any of those things for granted."

Klein's Bulldogs struck first at the 5:17 mark of the first period to put UMD up 1-0.  Senior Taylor Anderson netted her third goal of the season, whittling through the Maverick defense for the early goal after a pass from Naomi Rogge.  MSU answered at 11:16 on a goal from Kennedy Bobycik, but that draw only lasted just over a minute.  Elizabeth Giguere banged in a power play goal on the doorstep to retake the 2-1 lead at 12:12.

Giguere's goal was assisted by Klein, with the secondary helper credited to Hughes.  That assist – Hughes first of three in the skate – put the assistant captain into the 150 career point club.  Hughes, who was the seventh fastest Bulldog to reach 150 career points in program history, became just the 10th player ever to reach the point plateau for UMD.

"I don't even know the words to really describe it, because it's very special and an honor to really get that amount of points," reflected Hughes following the game. "I just can't thank my teammates enough and the support my teammates have for me. I think just playing with two amazing teammates, players and people really helps you get there, so you can't do it on your own."

Hughes figured in a buzzer beater to end the first period as well, again getting the secondary assist on a UMD goal that crossed the goal line as the buzzer sounded.  Clara Van Wieren's rip from the right point hit the twine with no time to spare to put the Bulldogs up 3-1 after the opening 20 minutes of play.

MSU's Brittyn Fleming went high and short side for the lone goal of the second period at 12:27, despite UMD's 17-7 shots on goal advantage in the period.

All those shots finally bankrolled early in the third period for UMD when Hughes slid the puck up to Taylor Stewart from the left point.  Stewart's blast went unseen by Maverick netminder Calla Frank until it was in the goal at the 5:35 mark to give UMD a 4-2 lead.

MSU caught one final break late in the frame, a five minute boarding call at 15:29 that forced the Bulldogs to fend off the Mavericks short handed for the remainder of the game.  MSU had just three shots over its final power play and nothing that beat UMD goaltender Jojo Chobak, who picked up her second career win after making 27 saves in the game.

The Bulldogs and Mavericks will wrap up their series tomorrow afternoon at AMSOIL Arena.  The puck will drop at 3:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES:  UMD went 1-of-3 on its power play while holding MSU scoreless in two attempts…Calla Frank had 28 stops for the Mavericks, who fall to 12-12-1 overall and 8-12-1 in the WCHA…Sophomore goaltender Jojo Chobak made just her third career start against MSU…With three assists Friday, Gabbie Hughes springs past former Bulldog All-American defenseman Jocelyne Larocque into 10th place all-time in assists…Larocque had 86 assists for UMD in 127 career games…Hughes now has 89 in 110 skates…Hughes is also now just three points shy of cracking the top-10 for UMD career points…Former Bulldog great Jessica Koizumi sits in 10th with 155 points (84g, 71a) in 132 games…Hughes now has 153 points (63g, 89a)...Hughes is now just two assists shy of tying her own personal season best of 31, set in 2019-20.