MINOT, N.D. – The streak is over thanks to Minot State University's defense.

The Beavers held Southwest Minnesota State to just four field goals in the second half and pulled away from the Mustangs for a 71-51 win in Northern State Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball snapping a four-game losing streak Saturday at the MSU Dome.

Over the four-game skid, the Beavers have jumped out to leads early on only to have difficulty keeping up their scoring. That was not the case Saturday as MSU (6-4 overall, 1-4 NSIC) outscored SMSU (0-9, 0-5) 35-22 in the second half. A big part of the offense, however, were stops on defense and rebounding. The Beavers held a 40-31 advantage on the glass.

"The kids have kind of been disappointed, disappointed and disappointed so it's nice to get over the hump and get the win," said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "I thought defensively we really played hard. Our ball pressure was pretty good tonight. I think they got a little frustrated with that and it wasn't easy to get good shots. I don't think they got many wide open shots. Everything seemed to be pretty contested."

The Mustangs scrapped to just a seven-point deficit at half and stayed close early in the second. But the lack of field goals and 21 turnovers did them in. If it weren't for 14 of 16 shooting at the free-throw line, it could have been much worse.
"I would say defensively for the whole weekend – as good as Sioux Falls is – I still think we played really hard," Green Gerding said.

Minot State's balance was also big as five players scored at least nine points and MSU got sophomore guard Alex Haley (Libertyville, Ill.) back into the scoring column. Haley, who was the Beavers leading scorer after its first four nonconference games, had struggled in NSIC games. She finished with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and added an assist, a rebound and a steal.

"Alex Haley kind of took a hiatus on us and she's been playing really well," Green Gerding said. "She had a really good weekend for us so it's nice to get her back."

SMSU's Lauren Hedlund led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 9 of 13 free throws and added eight rebounds. Annessa Rosch also finished in double figures for the Mustangs with 11 points.

Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) led the Beavers with 16 points and added seven rebounds and two steals. Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia), who went over 500 career rebounds Friday night, finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) also scored 11 points and Savana Kingsbury (Jr., F, Omaha, Neb.) had a fine all-around game with nine points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists in the win.

"Katie had a good weekend and Chris had a great weekend," said Green Gerding. "It's nice to get contributions from different people."

Minot State stays at home to finish the calendar year with an NSIC contest with rival University of Mary, Friday (6 p.m.), and a nonconference battle with Michigan Tech Saturday (4 p.m.).