MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University senior Sarah Lester (F, Frenchtown, Mont.) carried her team at times Friday night.

According the head coach Sheila Green Gerding, it's been the better part of a month.

"She's been phenomenal the last three weeks," the veteran head coach said. "She's put us on her back a lot of times and carried us. All in all, though, it was a great team effort."

Lester's career-high 30 points, coupled with a renewed energy on defense, led the Beavers to a 73-63 win over St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Friday at the MSU Dome.

Early on, Lester was MSU's only offensive weapon.

St. Cloud State stretched a two-point lead after one quarter into a nine-point bulge with 6:14 to play in the second quarter.

But it was all Minot State from there.

The Beavers (11-6 overall, 8-13 NSIC) closed the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 29-27 halftime lead. Lester scored 14 of the team's 29 in the first stanza.

"It's great to see her play how she's capable of playing," said Green Gerding. "It's been a long time coming for her. I really like where her game is at right now. She's a great player and we've seen it in practice, it hasn't always transferred to games with her and it's been frustrating."

While Lester was the key early on, the rest of the Beavers heated up in the second half. MSU shot 71 percent in the third quarter and scored 26 points, stretching its halftime lead to as many 14 points early in the fourth quarter. The Beavers shot 57 percent overall in the second half, hit all three 3-pointers they took and went 9 for 10 from the line.

"I don't know if it's playing a lot of people and coming out with some intensity after halftime," Green Gerding said of her team's second half performance. "I don't know if I can put my finger on it. I thought tonight we had a good focus after the half. And, we changed things up defensively in what we were doing to take away certain things they were exposing. I thought we did a pretty good job with that.

"We hit shots tonight so that helps."

SCSU (13-12, 12-9) had four in double figures led by Andrea Thomas' double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds and she added seven assists in a losing effort. SCSU hit just 8 of 26 3-pointers on the night and took just two free throws in the contest.

Savana Kingsbury (Sr., F, Omaha, Neb.) just missed another double-double as she pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and added eight points and four assists for the Beavers. Kari Clements (RFr., G, Trevor, Wis.) scored eight points and added three assists, two blocked shots and a steal off the bench, while Kori Eurich (Jr., G, Pueblo, Colo.) and Shyla Carr (Fr., G, Spokane, Wash.) chipped in with seven apiece.

"Everybody had a little something to do with it and made plays at different times," Green Gerding said. "It was a good win over a good team."

MSU closes out the regular season with a 4 p.m. matchup against Minnesota Duluth. MSU would secure fifth in the NSIC North with a win.

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.