MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University was outscored 46-30 in the middle two quarter before mounting a rally that fell short in a 76-66 loss to No. 25 Northern State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

MSU (3-13 overall, 1-9 NSIC) trailed by just a point after the first quarter, but was outscored 23-14 in the second and 23-16 in third quarter. The Beavers finished strong with a 21-14 fourth quarter but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.

"The effort was there for the most part, it was probably the best second game of the weekend as far as effort," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "But in the first half, we were running around, but not playing much, not communicating and not executing the offense. We snapped out of that and finished better."

The Wolves (11-3, 7-3) led by as many as 19 with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter, before Beavers made a run cutting it to the eventual 10-point margin with a 3-pointer by Reina Strand with just under a minute in the fourth.

"If we can get our energy going in the right direction, we can get better," said Green Gerding. "We got away from our execution and started playing too much one-on-one. It's not hard to guard when you're not moving. We need to work on executing our gameplan better on the offensive end."

NSU had three players in double figures led by Jill Conrad's 19 points. Conrad also led the Wolves with nine rebounds as NSU had a 35-28 edge on the glass.

Madison Wald knocked down 5 of 6 free throws and scored 14 points, added three assists and three rebounds to lead the Beavers. Kristal Flowers and Kari Clements scored 10 points each and Diondra Denton finished with eight in the loss.
The Beavers move back on the road next weekend, traveling to Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul.

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.