MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University built a 19-15 first quarter lead and led 39-35 at halftime, but couldn't hold off a charge by St. Cloud State, falling 76-69 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

The Beavers (4-22, 2-18 overall) had just one subpar quarter and were outscored 23-10 in the third as St. Cloud State – which was held to 36.4 percent shooting overall on the night – hit 8 of 19 shots.

"It seemed like we got really flat, weren't talking on defense and weren't talking on offense," said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. "They turned up the pressure and we didn't handle that very well. That started in the second quarter and carried over to the third quarter."

MSU hit 25 percent from the field overall, but were outrebounded 14-7 on the offensive end and had 10 more turnovers than the Huskies to lead to a 16-shot cushion for SCSU. The Beavers were also outscored 16-9 from the free throw line as SCSU knocked down 16 of 18 from the stripe.

The Beavers halftime lead was largely due to 3-point shooting at MSU hit 4 of 4 in the second quarter and six in the first half. Madison Wald had five of them and finished with six overall – a DII era record for 3s in a game – scoring a team-high 24 points.

"Think we started strong and had a lot of energy," Wald said. "As the game went on, it seemed like we got more and more drained. We are happy with how we played on the weekend, but wanted to get one tonight."

SCSU (11-13, 9-11) countered with 32 points from Betsy MacDonald, who hit eight triples in the win. Chelsea Nooker and Amanda Christianson finished with 12 and 11 apiece for the Huskies.

Kori Eurich finished with 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals in her final home game as a Beaver. The senior hit 6 of 10 from the field in 37 minutes. Kari Clements also reached double figures with 10 points.

The Beavers will finish off the 2016-17 season on the road next week, traveling to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.

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.