Box Score FAYETTE, Iowa – Sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

Minot State University had troubles stopping Upper Iowa at times, but the Beavers had more than enough offensive power to outscore the Peacocks 77-67 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Friday at Doorman Gymnasium.

The Beavers (10-3 overall, 6-3 NSIC) traded baskets with the Peacocks (4-9, 3-6) in the second half, but never relinquished a 37-32 halftime lead.

"We weren't brilliant, but we did what we needed to do, especially down the stretch," said MISU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "I thought we had great balance and executed our zone offense for the most part. We have some kids playing with great confidence right now."

Minot State continued two big trends as this season as all five starters reached double figures in the win. The Beavers came into the game as the only team in the conference sporting five starters with double-figure scorers. MISU also finished with a whopping 27 assists on 31 field goals. The Beavers are one of the top assist producing teams in the country, coming into the weekend at No. 3 in Division II.

"We had great balance, moved the ball around real well and shared the wealth," Green Gerding said. "Morgan (Morgan Klose, Jr., G, Fairview, N.D.) is probably playing the best basketball of her career and Speedy (MISU guard Alisha Jones, Jr., Killeen, Texas) doesn't try to do too much, but really operates the offense and has hit some big shots to stretch the defense."

Christina Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) turned in one of her best games in a Beavers' uniform, scoring a game-high 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the floor and adding seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

She saved her best for last as well, scoring six of the team's final eight points and 15 of her 23 in the second half. Boag hit a huge 3-pointer from the left wing to push the Beavers lead to seven with 3:11 to play. She also put the game away with a three-point play off a back-door feed from Jones with 23 seconds to play.

"Chris hit shots and that certainly helped our offense," Green Gerding said. "Give Upper Iowa credit, they hung around, hung around and hit some big shots that kind of surprised us."
The Peacocks stayed in the game until nearly the end, mainly behind 3-pointers, hitting eight in the game. But late, the shooting touch went away and Upper Iowa finished with just 8 of 21 shooting from beyond the arc and 39.3 percent in the game.

Whitney Kieffer paced the Peacocks with 20 points and Sam Thrapp had a double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds and 12 points in the loss.

Carly Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) finished with 14 points, six assists and six rebounds and helped the Beavers to the five-point halftime lead with 12 points at the break. Katie Hardy (Jr., F, Fairview, N.D.) scored 12 points while Jones and Klose finished with 11 points apiece, including three 3-pointers each. Jones also finished with seven assists and Klose added six rebounds and three assists in the win.

The Beavers move on to play Winona State Saturday to finish a two-game road trip, beginning at 4 p.m.