Marshall, Minn.- No. 13 UMD women's basketball picked up its 13th-consecutive win Saturday with a victory over the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs. The Bulldogs won by a final score of 87-75. With the win, UMD moves to 17-2 overall on the season and stays undefeated in conference play at 14-0.

The Bulldogs jumped to an 11-2 advantage led by Brooke Olson, who contributed five points- keep an eye out on that name. This early UMD run was generated by swarming defensively and capitalizing on the offensive end. UMD controlled the pace until a sudden shift around the midway point in the first quarter. A 10-0 run by SMSU over a span of just over three minutes gave the Mustangs their first lead of the night at 12-11 with 3:38 left in the first quarter. Enter Taya Hakamaki, who gave the Bulldogs a much-needed spark off the bench. The junior guard wasted no time getting to work at doing what she does best- being an elite ball hawk. By the end of the first quarter alone, Hakamaki already had three steals across just five minutes of action. Despite the best efforts of Hakamaki and company, UMD went into the second quarter trailing 22-18. 

Even with the momentum seemingly shifted in the Mustangs' direction, the battle-tested Bulldogs were quick to respond in the second frame. Continuing her strong first-quarter performance, Olson helped spark plug a 10-3 UMD run, scoring six points. Taytum Rhoades tagged in to score the other four. Just like that, the Bulldogs were back on top, leading 28-25 by the 6:49 mark of the quarter. This trend was consistent throughout the entire quarter for UMD, as it outscored the Mustangs 21-10 through 10 minutes. This left the Bulldogs up 39-32 at halftime.

Olson scored a team-high 18 points on 7-11 (63.6%) shooting from the field in the first half to go with three rebounds. Hakamaki picked up right where she'd left off on Friday with nine points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals across 14 minutes and change.

The scoring in the third quarter was somewhat of a back-and-forth story; as we've come to learn this season, that's a formula that typically favors the team already in the lead. Things only got truly dicey for the Bulldogs on the two occasions where their lead shrunk back down to just two-possessions. The first instance was at the 6:50 mark when a Sam Wall bucket left the score at 46-41. No bother- the Bulldogs would see their lead balloon to a new game-high of 12 less than two minutes after this, the new score reading 53-41 while the clock read 5:11. Credit to the Mustangs, though, as they continued to battle until they were back within five at 57-52 with just 2:25 to play in frame three. How did the Bulldogs use up the rest of that time? By pushing their advantage back up to nine at 65-56 heading into the final frame.

Olson continued to dominate, adding 11 more points to her total on 5-7 (71.4%) shooting to give her 29 through just three quarters. Hakamaki also stayed the course as she slivered her way through the defense, constantly finding the open teammate and making the right play. She had a number-salad of a third frame with four points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal. Another figure crucial to the Bulldogs' third quarter lore was Ani Tschida, who sank just the third three of her career to leave the score at 49-41 and ignite UMD's run to that eventual 12-point lead.

The fourth and final period saw a very even scoring spread from the Bulldogs. At the top of the pack once again, though, was Olson. She scored six in the quarter to close out her evening. As a team, UMD had shot very well all night - the last frame was no different. While going 9-13 (69.2%) from the floor, the Bulldogs outscored the Mustangs 22-19 in the quarter and closed things out with a final score of 87-75. UMD hadn't led by less than seven throughout the final frame, and that had been for just the first minute and change. 

Want to venture to guess how many times something like "what a night for Olson" has been said so far this year? Well, if there was ever a game that such a sentiment was appropriate- not just throughout this season, but the graduate forward's entire career- it'd be tonight. So let us say it anew, with feeling: what a night for Olson.

The 6'2" Rice Lake native posted a personal-best of 35 points. This would've been pretty impressive regardless of the shooting numbers that got her there, but… she did it while going 15-21 from the field. That's a 71.4% field goal percentage. Not bad, Brooke- not bad.

Hakamaki also had a night to remember, notching 15 points on 6-10 shooting off the bench. All the while, the junior guard grabbed six rebounds, dropped five dimes (a new career-high), blocked three shots (also a personal milestone) and snagged four steals. The human Swiss-Army Knife seems to have struck again. Madelyn Granica also had a pretty dynamic performance, scoring 13 points, blocking three shots and corralling four boards. Rhoades provided 12 points, four rebounds and two blocks. 

As a team, the Bulldogs shot a whopping 61.7% (37-60) across the contest. They didn't shoot below 50% in a single quarter of this one. And there was one Bulldog in particular that led the distribution efforts to make it all happen: Maesyn Thiesen. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary- the graduate guard's been a focal point of this offensive unit for some time. Seven assists in this one is pretty impressive, though, even for her. Only fitting that it'd be an effort like this that would propel Thiesen into the history books. With 431 assists to her name across her career, the consummate passer now rests at fifth on UMD's all-time assists list, surpassing Sammy Kozlowski's 429 mark. And hey, there's still plenty of season left to go. Time to start the climb to No. 4.

The Mustangs were led by Hannah Parsley, who scored 17 points to go with six rebounds. Peyton Blandin had 13 points on 5-7 (71.4%) shooting, including a 3-4 effort from deep. Blandin had three assists as well. Sam Wall also cracked double-digits with 12 points. Bri Stoltzman had an impressive outing, registering a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out four assists.

POST-GAME WITH PEARSON:

This Bulldog squad plays a very unselfish brand of basketball and does an excellent job of finding the best look possible each time down the floor. Even in a game where Olson posted a career night of an effort, this one was no different. Seven Duluth players contributed to the scoring column, and four of those seven scored in double digits.

All-told, this is a group that just wants to win. In playing this way, it's able to be surgical in its approach. If Olson's going to put up 35 points, it's because she's shooting well- not for the sake of it. This isn't a team assembled out of individuals that demand individual acknowledgment- it's simply a team. Just ask UMD head coach Mandy Pearson.

"This team doesn't seem to really care who is scoring- they celebrate each other's successes but really just focus on getting the best shot they can as a team," Pearson said.

But it's nice to have certain players that can reliably score the ball, of course. We already know about Olson- she's all-but bound to have a big game on any particular night at this point. It's inherently harder, however, for more of a rotational piece to come to be called upon not just as a reliable scorer but as a key reliable scorer. Well, Hakamaki's pulled it off anyways.

The resume the guard's developed for herself across her junior season really has been something to behold, and Saturday was just the latest notch in it. It didn't go unnoticed by her coach tonight, much like it's been impossible to miss all year.

"Taya had great numbers tonight but most importantly competed like crazy and worked super hard," Pearson said. "She had a great all-around offensive and defensive game tonight."