Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Senior Marisa Yernatich tied a career-high with 23 points to lead the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team to a 93-60 rout of Minnesota-Morris in nonconference action Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.

The Dragons improved to 2-0 on the year with the win, while the Cougars fell to 1-1.

A balanced offensive attack, combined with a defensive effort that held UMM to just 28.3 percent shooting, keyed the Dragons' win.

Seniors Kaycee Charette and Morgan Zabel had 12 points each for the Dragons, while freshman Jessy Noreen and senior Megan Strese had nine points each. Freshman Heather Strese, playing in her first collegiate game, had eight points.  Megan Strese added seven rebounds, while freshman Savanna Handevidt and Yernatich had six each. Charette, Noreen and Zabel had three assists each, while Yernatich had two blocks and three steals.

The Dragons shot 50 percent (33-of-66) from the field, including a solid 44 percent (11-of-25) from three-point range. MSUM shot 94.1 percent from the free-throw line (16-of-17) and outrebounded the Cougars 46-28.

MSUM opened the game on a 15-0 run, sparked by five points from Yernaitch and three each from Noreen and Charette.

The Cougars cut the gap to 22-17 with 9:50 left in the half and were within 28-22 with seven minutes left before the Dragons seized control for good. They ended the half by outscoring UMM 21-12 over the final seven minutes to take a 49-29 lead into halftime. That final stretch was sparked by balance, as four players had four points or more -- Yernatich (five), Zabel (five), freshman Kyleigh Hebert (four) and Heather Strese (four).

The Dragons opened the second half with a 15-8 run -- sparked by two threes from Yernatich -- to put the game out of reach at 64-36 with 14:57 left.  MSUM led by as 35 on its way to a victory in its home debut.

Junior Haley Thomforde and freshman Leah Miller added six points each off the bench for MSUM. Eleven of the 12 Dragon players who saw playing time scored in the win.

The Dragons hit the road to Hawaii for a pair of games this week. MSUM will face Hawaii-Hilo at 6 p.m. Central time on Thursday, and follow that with a game against BYU-Hawaii at 6 p.m. CT on Friday. Both games will be in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragon women have now won 11 games in a row over the University of Minnesota Morris. The last time the Cougars defeated the Dragons was a 59-53 decision on February 24, 1999.