MOORHEAD, Minn. – Senior Holly Johnson scored a game-high 27 points in a 72-69 loss at Minnesota State Moorhead in Moorhead, Minn. on Friday night.

The loss drops the Beavers to 6-7 (3-6 NSIC) on the season while the Dragons improve to 10-3 (7-2 NSIC).

Minot State jumped out to a 10-5 lead off two three-point field goals from Holly Johnson and two-point field goals from Madison Wald and Kristal Flowers. The Dragons responded with a 10-4 rally to take a 15-14 lead going into the second quarter.

MSU Moorhead continued the momentum into the second quarter, as the Dragons outscored Minot State 20-11 in the second quarter to take a 35-25 lead at halftime.

The Beavers cut the 10-point deficit down to five at 47-42 with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter off a Diondra Denton three-pointer. Minot State outscored the Dragons 18-16 in the third quarter and trailed 51-43 going into the final quarter.

Wald connected on a layup with 46 seconds left to cut the Dragon lead down to 69-65. Following two MSU Moorhead free throws, Wald hit a three-pointer from the corner to trim the Dragon lead down to 71-68 with 13 seconds left.

Johnson made one of two three throws with 4.5 seconds to get the Beavers back within a shot, prompting the Dragons to take a timeout to advance the ball to the frontcourt.

On the inbounds, the play was initially ruled tipped out by Mariah Payne, but was overturned after going to the replay monitor to give the Beavers one final shot with 3.8 seconds left.

With 3.8 seconds left, Johnson caught the ball at half court and launched a shot from just inside the half court line that missed wide securing the 72-69 victory for the Dragons.

Wald was second on the team with 12 points, followed by Kari Clements with 10 points.

Denton grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Johnson and Flowers added six rebounds apiece.

Minot State shot 42.6 percent from the floor, including 40 percent from three-point range while the Dragons shot 44.4 percent from the floor.

MSU Moorhead outrebounded the Beavers 36-32 and went 17-22 from the free throw while Minot State shot 9-11 from the charity stripe.

Minot State returns to action tomorrow night, as they travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to face No. 19 Northern State at 4 p.m.