MANKATO, Minn. --For the first time in program history, the No. 3 Wisconsin women's hockey team is off to a 10-0-0 start after defeating Minnesota State, 7-0, on Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Center.

The Badgers (10-0-0, 8-0-0-0 WCHA) earned their eighth-straight shutout in the triumph, which is the longest streak in WCHA history. The Badgers have not allowed a goal in the past 521 minutes, 15 seconds, a streak that started on Oct. 3 in the first period of UW's 8-1 win over Providence in San Jose, California.

"It is impressive," UW head coach Mark Johnson said of the shutout streak."I don't stay up thinking about it, but obviously it has become a topic that really starts with the goaltender and it moves out from there. We'replaying disciplined hockey and when we do break down, Ann-Renee (Desbiens) has been able to stay focused and play real well.

"Our first period today, we broke down a few times, gave them a breakaway, a two-on-one. But we were able to keep the puck out of the net and score a couple of goals. It's a team effort. You focus on what's the next step and get ready for that."

Wisconsin also took control of first place in the WCHA standings after No. 1 Minnesota lost Friday night to No. 7 North Dakota.Through their first 10 games, the Badgers have outscored opponents a combined 55-2.

Junior Ann-Renee Desbiens earned her seventh shutout of the season, stopping all 18 Minnesota State (2-9-1, 0-8-0-0 WCHA) shots she encountered. She now sits in 10th place in NCAA history with 24 career shutouts, while her 46 wins rank fifth in program history.

"We looked pretty consistent," Desbiens said."I think we did the little things right and focused on every single play. We don't look ahead, we don't look too far into the period. We just go shift by shift and I think that's what has made us successful so far."

In addition, Desbiens has not allowed a goalin the last 440:52, which is the second-longest streak in NCAA hockey, men's or women's, behind only UW legend Jessie Vetter's streak of 448:32 that she set during the 2006-07 season.

Six different Badgers scored, as freshman Sophia Shaver paced the UW offense with a pair of goals. Mellissa Channell, Baylee Wellhausen, Courtney Burke, Rachel Jones and Sydney McKibbon scored one goal each in the victory.

"I just think everyone is playing their role," team captain Burke said."It's working for us. We needed people to step up and score goals this year because we lost a lot of scoring last year, but I think everyone is playing really well and getting things done. We need everyone to contribute and that's exactly what we're doing."

"It's been a challenge at times to get pucks to the net," Johnson said. "But you look at our first couple goals, Channell on the power play getting the puck through traffic, Courtney Burke again getting pucks in the net, finding seams inthelanes and capitalizing. I'm certainly happy for Shaver, she scored a nice short-handed goal, and then got rewarded again in the third period.

"It's nice to see depth in your scoring, it certainly builds confidence within those players and that's the key."

After a slow start, the Badgers scored four times in a six minute, 13 second span in the first period to take a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Channell got the scoring going for Wisconsin, launching a rocket past MSU netminder Brianna Quade on UW's first power-play of the game to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead with 8:30 left in the first.

Two minutes later, Shaver collected the first short-handed goal of her career, sneaking the puck past Quade to double the UW lead. Wisconsin has now scored six short-handed goals this year, while allowing one power-play goal.

With under four minutes to play in the first, Wellhausen scored her third goal in as many games to lift UW to a 3-0 lead. The Williams Bay, Wisconsin, native scored on a one-on-one after Pankowski threaded a pass through the MSU defense to Wellhausen.

Burke capped off the first period scoring for UW, launching a laser top shelf, marking her second goal of the series.

The second period was quiet as Minnesota State outshot UW 8-4,but theBadgers'offense woke up in the third.

Just 30 seconds into the final frame, Jones pounced on a rebound and fired it low into the net to give UW a 5-0 advantage.

On UW's second power-play of the game, McKibbon tipped in an Annie Pankowski rocket. It marked the fourth power-play goal of the weekend for Wisconsin.

Shaver scored her second of the game with just over 11 minutesleft in the third, marking her first multi-point effort for UW.

Pankowski now has a 13-game point streak, which is tied for the seventh-longest in school history. The sophomore leads Wisconsin with nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points this year.

Wisconsin outshot Minnesota State 31-18.

The Badgers enter into their first bye weekend of the year. During the break, current Badgers Emily Clark and Sarah Nurse will suit up for Team Canada at the 2015 Four Nations Cup in Sweden.

Wisconsin returns to action on Nov. 13 with a battle at Minnesota Duluth. Faceoff at AMSOIL Arena is set for 3 p.m. (CT).