MINOT, N.D. - At the end of the first quarter the Minot State University women's basketball team found itself down 19-6 to Pittsburg State in the season opener. Over the next 30 minutes the Beavers would only be outscored by the Gorillas 59-54 and even won the battle in the second half 41-39.
 
"We started out sluggish and unable to convert offensively, which made it a struggle in the first half," said head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "We buried ourselves pretty deep. Got some energy going at the end of the second quarter that led to a lot better play in the second half, but we just couldn't make up the ground."
 
Pittsburg State was able to succeed in a variety of areas in the first half including hitting six three-point shots. Leading the game 39-19 at halftime it seems the Gorillas would do the same in the second half, but Minot State came out of the locker room with improved play on both ends.
 
"We needed to shake off the sluggishness of the first half," Green Gerding said struggling to find any other way to describe the way her team played. "We were sluggish on defense and that lost us a lot of the 50/50 balls. On offense we need to take better shots."
 
Offensively the Beavers improved their shooting from 27.6 percent in the first half to 42.9 in the second. They also limited their opponents to a shooting percentage of 36.0 after allowing them to make 48.1 percent in the first half.
 
Limiting three-point shots and rebounding better played a large role in the turnaround for MSU. Pittsburg State attempted 18 shots from beyond the arc in the first half and was limited to just eight in the second half making six and two, respectively. The Beavers were also able to gather missed shots much better in the final two quarters.
 
In the first half PSU out rebounded 25-15. In the second half Minot State returned the favor with a ratio of 22-14 in its favor. Green Gerding noticed the improvement and is excited about how her team can improve as the season goes on.
 
"We saw some good things out of individuals," Green Gerding said. "Second half effort improved, especially on the boards. We have so far to go. We need to learn how to set the tempo and play our game."
 
One Beaver that stood out was redshirt freshman Kari Clements who handled the ball well in the second half scoring all of her 10 points in the final 20 minutes. Clements hit a three and made all five of her free throw attempts to be the second leading scorer for MSU.
 
"She's a hard matchup. Good speed. Hits threes well. She bounced back in second half," Green Gerding said. "[Madison Wald] played better second half as well."
 
Wald scored five of her seven points and rebounded three of her five boards all in the second half of play.
 
Leading the Beavers in rebounds was Savana Kingsbury with nine. Offensively Sara Lester led with 13 points hitting both of the three-point shots taken while Alex Haley had a team-high three assists.
 
Minot State will play again tomorrow, November 14 at 5 p.m. against Washburn University in the MSU Dome.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.