MANKATO, Minn. – Minot State University did nearly everything it needed to do to upset No. 2 South seed Minnesota State.

The Beavers shot the ball extremely well, played hard, and stayed with the Mavericks for about 35 of the 40 minutes of their NSIC / Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament first round game.

But offensive rebounds, Maverick 3s and a five-minute lull in the second half spoiled any Minot State upset bid as Minnesota State held off the Beavers 87-73 to advance to Sioux Falls, S.D., Saturday at the Taylor Center.

"We had a great first half, but got a little sluggish in the second half," said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "Give some credit to their zone, we stood around too much when they went in that. We did a pretty good job in man, but the zone affected our rhythm."

The Beavers (12-17 overall) hit 47 percent in the first half and limited the Mavericks (20-8) to just 36 percent, but Minnesota State enjoyed a 38-37 lead behind seven 3-pointers. The Mavericks hit just 33.3 percent, but took 21 to outscore Minot State 21-3 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Mavericks heated up some in the second half to shoot 42 percent, but in the end, Minot State outshot the Mavs 49-42 percent. Minnesota State, however, hit 12 3-pointers and took six more shots total mainly due to 18 offensive rebounds.

"We have struggled with that (opposition offensive rebounds) at times this year. We gave up a bunch last week and we talked about it and watched film on it this week," Green Gerding said. "But we just gave up way too many there. I don't know, maybe it was fatigue, but we needed to a better job there."

Minot State played just eight players due to injuries and had three crack 30-plus minutes including all 40 by point guard Amanda Sansaver (Jr, Wolf Point, Mont.), her second straight game doing so.

MSU had it last lead of the game, a 51-50 advantage on a 3-pointer by Diondra Denton (So., G, Great Falls, Mont.) with 13:48 to play in the second half. But it sparked an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to give the Mavericks back the lead. The Beavers were not able to cut it under 5 from there.

"We were resilient and had a lot of contributions from a lot of different players tonight," Green Gerding said. "I'm proud of how we played. We played hard, but just didn't have enough in tank."

The Mavericks had five players in double figures, paced by Lexie Ulfers' 19. Britney Scherber hit three 3-pointers on her way to 15, while Aubrey Davis and Ashley Olson added 14 each in the win for Minnesota State.

Sarah Lester (Jr., G, Frenchtown, Mont.) and Denton came off the bench to combine for 29 points and 10 rebounds as Lester paced the Beavers with 16 points and seven rebounds. Alex Haley (So., G, Libertyville, Ill.) chipped win with14 and Christina Boag (Sr., F, Tamworth, Australia) added 13 – 12 in the first half – and added six rebounds.

Senior Katie Hardy (F, Fairview, N.D.) finished with six points and three rebounds in her final game, while Morgan Klose (Sr., G, Fairview, N.D.) did not play due to an injury. Boag, Hardy and Klose finished their Beavers' careers with a combined 2,962 points.