Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. — Four Minnesota State University Moorhead players scored in double figures as the Dragons beat Upper Iowa, 65-51 in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health women's basketball tournament on Wednesday.

MSUM improved to 21-5 on the year while Upper Iowa finished the season at 5-24. The Dragons will now face Augustana in the NSIC/Sanford Health quarterfinals on Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. Augustana beat Minot State, 96-75 on Wednesday.

Sophomore guard Cassidy Thorson and sophomore forward Drew Sannes paced a balanced Dragon attack with 13 points each. Junior guard Morgan Banasik and freshman guard Jacky Volkert each chipped in with 11.  Senior forward Heather Strese had eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds while senior forward Savanna Handevidt had nine points and 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Natalie Van Wyhe had five assists while Sannes led with six blocks.

MSUM shot 35.8 percent (24-of-67) for the game compared to 31.7 percent (19-of-60) for the Peacocks. The Dragons had a 44-41 edge in rebounding.

A big disparity in the game was bench scoring, as MSUM outscored Upper Iowa 24-3 in that category.

MSUM trailed 14-12 with 2:13 left in the first quarter but responded with a 16-4 run to surge into a 28-20 lead with 4:54 left in the first half. Five different Dragons scored during that run, led by by five points from Banasik and four from Strese.

Upper Iowa cut the lead to 30-27 in the final minute before Volkert scored to make it 32-27, which was the halftime tally. Banasik had 10 points in the first half to pace the Dragons.

Holding a 39-32 lead with six minutes left in the third, the Dragons scored nine in a row to push the lead to 48-32. Volkert was the catalyst of that run with seven points, including two 3-pointers.  MSUM took a 53-40 lead into the fourth quarter.

MSUM hit a cold spell offensively in the fourth, managing just one point over the first five minutes of the half. Upper Iowa crept to within 53-48 with 6:08 left; the Dragons scored the next seven points, keyed by four points from Sannes, to push the lead back to 60-48, and the lead never dropped below double digits after that.

The Dragons' game against Augustana is the final quarterfinal matchup of the day on Sunday at the Pentagon.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight marked the Dragons' third consecutive home playoff win. The Dragons beat Upper Iowa in the 2015 first round and the University of Sioux Falls in the 2013 tournament opener. Their last home playoff loss was when St. Cloud State beat the Dragons 61-48 in a first round matchup on March 4, 2009.