MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University's school record 22nd win of the season might have been one of its most difficult.

MSU and South Dakota Mines battled back and forth much of the night – nothing Beavers' head coach Sheila Green Gerding was surprised with.

“It's the playoffs now. Games are never pretty,” she said. “Both teams are fighting for their lives and you make each other look ugly at times.”

The Beavers held Mines to just 36.4 percent shooting and won their 15th straight game at home in a 67-61 win over the Hardrockers in the first round of the Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball postseason tournament Wednesday at the MSU Dome.

“We have been pretty good on defense lately and when the offense hasn't been playing well, we have relied on the defense to get us over the hump,” Green Gerding said. “The thing we did solid all night was the defense – and it wasn't our normal defense. For the first time in 28 games, we didn't start in our 'Red' defense and that was a little scary, but we had to do it.”

According to Green Gerding, the record was something the team talked about heading into the first round playoff game.

“We did address it,” she said. “This is the last time we get to play as many games as we do now (with moving to NCAA Division II) and we are going to be playing in a great conference in the Northern Sun and you don't know when we will have a chance again. We have been stuck on 21 a couple of times and it was important for our seniors to be the team to break it. This is the last team in the NAIA and the last time in the DAC and to break the school record was great.”

No. 22 certainly wasn't easy as Mines battled the Beavers for the second straight year in the first round of the DAC playoffs. MSU pushed a small lead in the first half to double figures, saw the Hardrockers battle back cut the lead to two in the second half but rebounded late for a second run to put away Mines.

“We thought we had some thingsfigured out with our post rotation and it gave us a push in the second half,” Green Gerding said. “We hadn't executed it all game, but we did for a stretch and were pretty good. But we struggled to execute all night long.”

MSU (22-7 overall) led by eight at halftime, but  both teams missed shots and forced turnovers early before Mines cut it to 50-47 midway through the second half. MSU, however, stretch the lead back to eight minutes on a key 3 from senior Whitney Loftesnes (G, Velva, N.D.) to make it  56-48 and pushed that lead to 11 at 60-49 on a bucket by Kelly Pankratz (Sr., G, Malta, Mont.) with just over three minutes to go.

“Our seniors came up big,” said Green Gerding. “Whitney hit a big shot and Caroline (Caroline Folven, C, Byron, Ill.) was solid all night.

Mines (12-17) got a big effort from Hillary Hawkins, who scored a game-high 21 piotns and pulled down 10 rebounds in 37 minutes of playing time. Ariel Granillo scored 14 point and Justine Blade added 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

 MSU had solid offensive balance as they put four in double figures, led by Carly Boag (Fr., F, Tamworth, Australia) and  Folven who had 13 apiece. The dup combined for 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals as well. Sacarra Molina (So., G, Hinsdale, Mont.) scored 11 points and played turnover-free ball from the point. Katie Hardy (Fr., F, Fairview, Mont.) chipped in with 10 points and Christina Boag (Fr., F, Tamworth, Australia) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points.

MSU will have to travel away from the friendly confines of the MSU Dome for the semifinals as the Beavers travel to Valley City State Sunday for a second-round game.