BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Minot State women's basketball team notched their first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win on the road this season with an 81-70 victory over Bemidji State on Friday night.
Minot State improves to 8-9 (5-8 NSIC) while Bemidji State drops to 4-13 (3-10 NSIC) on the season.
The win is the first NSIC road win for Minot State since December 30, 2016 when the Beavers won 77-63 at St. Cloud State.
Bemidji State held a 9-8 lead with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter and that was their last lead in the game, as Minot State led BSU 17-14 after the first quarter.
A layup from Holly Johnson gave the Beavers a 24-17 before BSU trimmed Minot State's lead down to 26-25 with 2:43 left in the first half.
Minot State finished the first half with a 6-1 rally off layups from Diondra Denton and Mariah Payne and a jumper from Johnson to lead 32-26 at halftime.
Leading 42-36, MSU outscored the Beavers 14-2 to extend their lead to 56-38 with 1:53 left in the third quarter. Bemidji State responded with a 7-2 rally of their own to trim Minot State's lead to 58-45 going into the fourth quarter.
After trailing by double-figures for most of the fourth quarter, Bemidji State trimmed MSU's lead to eight with 1:03 to play before Denton knocked down two free throws to give Minot State an 11-point lead with 12 seconds left.
Five Beavers scored in double-figures for Minot State, as Johnson led MSU with a game-high 23 points and dished out a team-high four assists.
Payne scored a season-high 18 points and tied her career-high with eight rebounds while Kristal Flowers and Madison Wald added 13 points apiece.
Denton tied her career-high with a game-high 11 rebounds while scoring 10 points on four of six shooting from the field.
Minot State shot 54 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free throw line while registering a 34-29 rebounding advantage and limiting BSU to 44 percent shooting.
The Beavers notched a dominant 38-22 advantage in points in the paint over BSU and forced Bemidji State to commit 18 turnovers.
Minot State returns to action tomorrow night, as the Beavers take on Minnesota Crookston in Crookston, Minn. at 4 p.m.
