Women's Basketball | November 20, 2014

Box Score HILO, Hawaii – Minot State University's Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) and Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) each netted a career highs to propel the Beavers to a 69-58 win over Hawaii at Hilo in the final game for MSU in Hawaii Wednesday.

Denton paced the Beavers with 24 points and eight rebounds, going 8 of 12 from the floor, while Haley knocked down 22 points on 6 for 10 shooting and a perfect 7 for 7 from the free-throw line. Both players had three 3-pointers for MSU.

"We had another great effort tonight and got great contributions from several people again," said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "Alex and Diondra had career highs and different people made plays for us down the stretch to help us extend the lead and hold on for another win."

The Beavers (4-0 overall) pushed leads to double figures a couple times, only to see the Vulcans closed the gap. The final time, however, after Hawaii Hilo got to within 56-53, MSU closed out the game.

Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) started a 13-5 game-ending run with a layup at 4:14 to play. Denton nailed a jumper off a Klose feed and Haley iced it with a three-point play and a 3-pointer to give MSU a 66-56 lead with just under two minutes to go.

The Beavers finished 2-0 on the road trip and is 4-0 on the season, the second year in a row MSU has started 4-0. The Beavers can look to make it 5-0 and their 11th straight nonconference win in a row with a 5 p.m. game against Presentation College at the MSU Dome Sunday.

"We really played hard for the last two nights and I feel we are making strides with every game," Green Gerding said. "This makes our trip so much more enjoyable to get these two wins."

MSU started a little slow for the second time on the trip to Hawaii and trailed the Vulcans 25-18 on a 3-pointer by Kirstie Williams 12 minutes into the first half.

But the Beavers rallied over the final eight minutes to tie the game at 33 at halftime. Sarah Lester (Jr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.), Denton and Haley all hit 3-pointers in the stretch run to get it tied at the break.

Haley capped a 17-6 run to start the second half with a 3-pointer for a 50-39 MSU lead with 12:54 to play, but Minot State couldn't run away with it from there. The Vulcans, however, never led after Alexa Jacobs gave Hawaii Hilo a 27-26 lead with 4:57 to play in the first half.

Hawaii Hilo (0-1) was led by Williams and McKenzie Mangino who scored 10 points apiece. Charlotte CC Rode and Jacobs chipped in with nine each, while Hayley Reynolds finished with five points and a team-high five rebounds.

Klose finished with eight points, seven rebounds, five steals, an assist and a blocked shot for MSU. The Beavers had just 13 turnovers in the game and forced 12 steals, six in each half. MSU had a huge 25-7 advantage on points off of turnovers in the win.