Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minot State University's Alisha Jones (Sr., G, Killeen, Texas) said the idea coming into Friday's game at Minnesota State University Moorhead was to attack the basket.

The Beavers had settled for 3s at times. "Speedy" decided to do both.

Jones scored a season-high 22 points on a variety of drives to the buck and two 3-pointers as the Beavers ran away from the Dragons with an impressive 79-56 road win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.

"Coach has told us to not settle for 3s and attack the basket," Jones said. "We tried to do that all night. "It's nice when you have Carly (Carly Boag, Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) and Katie (Katie Hardy, Jr., F, Fairview, N.D.) to dish to or to take up defenders and make a lane."

Minot State clinched the No. 2 seed in the NSIC North Division as Northern State knocked off the University of Mary. MISU will take on NSIC South Division's No. 7 team either Upper Iowa or Winona State Wednesday in the first-ever NSIC WBB tournament game at the Dome (7 p.m.)

Lanes opened up for driving Beavers (18-7 overall, 14-7 NSIC) much of the night as five different Minot State players scored in double figures.

"Teams are going to dare us to shoot 3s for the rest of the year so it's important for us to be patient and not necessarily take the first one. We want to work for a good one and attack the basket," said MISU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "We were pretty patient tonight and scored 79 so that's a good sign for us. I thought our defense really settled in a limited them after the early going."

MSU Moorhead (16-9, 12-9) kept it close early as both teams raced out of the locker room. The Beavers held a 24-18 lead just five minutes in to the game and never relinquished it. After a back and forth first half, Minot State rolled to a 44-28 advantage in the second half, building a 20-point lead on 3-pointers by Morgan Klose (Jr., G, Fairview, N.D.), Christina Boag (Jr., F, Tamworth, Australia) and Jones midway through the second.

"Knocking those 3s down was big for us," Jones said. "Teams are going to give them to us and we need to hit them."

Megan Strese was the only Dragon in double figures with 14 points and added seven rebounds to pace MSUM. The Dragons can finish as high as third and as low as fifth with one game to play.

Hardy continued a steady junior season with 16 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Carly Boag scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half and pulled down 12 rebounds. Christina Boag scored all of her 13 points in the second and added four assists and four rebounds, while Klose chipped in with 10 points.

The Beavers finish the regular season with a matchup with North-leading Northern State in Aberdeen, S.D., at 5 p.m. Saturday.

"We thought we had the ingredients to have a solid team coming in. It was just a matter of putting together the right pieces," said Green Gerding when asked about finishing second, while being picked 12th overall by the coaches in the preseason poll. " That's the big thing about this league it's about putting it together each night."