By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
With the game tied at 68-68 and five seconds left, Minnesota State's Natalie Bremer fired a pass on the baseline to Emily Herzberg, who hit a reverse layup as time expired, lifting the Mavericks to a 70-68 win over Cal State-San Marcos in the Final Four Wednesday night at Civic Arena.
Minnesota State (32-5), who opened the NCAA tournament by beating Missouri Western, has punched their ticket to the national title for the first time since 2009, which is when Minnesota State won it all.
Bremer led Minnesota State with a game-high 29 points to reach 1,000 points in her career. She also led her team with nine rebounds. Herzberg and Joey Batt each had 13 points.
Minnesota State, who ranks No. 1 in the country in turnovers forced per game, scored 24 points off of 27 Cal State turnovers.
Minnesota State will have a formidable challenge in the national championship.
Texas Woman's University (34-4) led by 17 at halftime and rolled to a 68-52 win over Ferris State in the first semifinal game Wednesday.
The Pioneers have set a school record for number of wins in a single season and have reached the national championship for the first time in program history.
Scout Huffman led Texas Woman's with 18 points. Jada Celsur had 14 points, while Ashley Ingram had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Texas Woman's and Minnesota State do battle on Friday night at 7 at Civic Arena. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
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