MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University was outscored 20-8 over the final nine minutes as Minnesota State University Moorhead rallied for a 67-64 win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

 "In the second half they (MSUM) kind of started to make their run and started pressing and just got panic amongst us," said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "We kept trying to get into stuff too fast and we didn't execute. We started taking bad shots. You miss shots and we don't score and it leads to bad things at the other end too. It's the same thing that keeps going on. Our kids just got to understand how to handle those situations."

The Beavers (7-9 overall, 2-8 NSIC) fell for the third-straight game and lost for the ninth time in their past 11 games. It was the second time the Beavers lost a large lead against the Dragons this year as MSUM rallied from a big first-half deficit at Moorhead earlier in the season.

In Saturday's game, Minot State pushed a six-point halftime lead to double figures a couple times in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Beavers still had a sizeable lead as Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) knocked down a jumper to give MSU a 56-47 cushion with 9:30 to play.

But things went downhill for MSU from there.

The Dragons (7-7, 6-4) countered the Haley jumper with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first by Meghan Roehrich and the second by Cassidy Thorson to get right back into the game. Roehrich had a fantastic game for the Dragons scoring a game-high 26 points, while it was Thorson's only bucket of the contest.

"We played a lot harder tonight," Green Gerding said. "We did play hard – our effort was great. We just had some mental lapses which kind of got us tonight. But you can't fault their effort."

MSU played some of its best basketball of the season for a stretch late in the first half and into the first half of the second. Haley and senior Christina Boag (F, Tamworth, Australia) were a big part of that as Haley had six of her 16 points and two assists, while knocked down 10 of her 19 to build the double-figure lead.

But the Beavers went cold down the stretch and MSUM heated up hitting 4 of 8 on 3s in the second half to complete the comeback.
Roehrich had a solid all-around game, pulling down five rebounds and dishing out three assists in the win. Morgan Banasik and Savanna Handevidt joined her in double figures scoring with12 and 10 respectively and Handevidt finished with six rebounds to pace the Dragons.

Boag pulled down seven rebounds and Haley finished with three assists for MSU. Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) added eight points, while Katie Hardy (Sr., F, Fairview, N.D.) and Amdana Sansaver (Jr., G, Wolf Point, Mont.) added six apiece in the loss.

Minot State heads out on its longest road trip of the season, playing at Upper Iowa Friday and Winona State Saturday.