Maryanne Menefee had a hat trick as the No. 2 Gophers routed Minnesota State Mankato 7-3 on Friday night at Ridder Arena in WCHA women's hockey. It was Minnesota's third win this season over the Mavericks and 23rd in a row.

Menefee, a junior forward, gave Minnesota (20-1-3, 13-1-3-1) a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute of the opening period. Meghan Lorence made it 2-0 less than two minutes later.

Menefree scored again 13 seconds into the second period on a power play to make it 3-0.

Kathleen Rogan gave the Mavericks (2-18-1, 0-14-1) a little spark with a goal at 2:22.

Cara Piazza and Sydney Baldwin scored 2½ minutes apart in the middle of the period as the Gophers' lead grew to 5-1. But the Mavericks got their second goal, from Sara Bustad, with 1:30 left in the middle period.

Menefee's third goal came early in the third period and pushed the lead to four goals again. Casey Hirsch scored for the Mavericks with seven minutes left. Then it was Menefee, setting up defenseman Rachel Ramsey, for the final goal with 1:05 left.

Erin Krichiver finished with 54 saves for the visitors; Gophers backup goalie Sidney Peters had 16.

The Gophers have dominated the all-time series, holding a 68-3-3 lead over MSU Mankato. The Mavericks' most recent victory was 4-3 on Jan. 20, 2007.

Minnesota went into the game averaging 4.61 goals per game, which ranks second nationally. Menefee's three goals give her 12 this season. The Gophers now have six players with 10 goals or more.