Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Senior Megan Strese's two free throws with 10 seconds left were the game-winning points as the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team edged Minnesota Duluth, 80-78, in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.

The Dragons, who wrapped up a perfect 4-0 homestand with the win, improved to 14-8 overall and 10-8 in the NSIC, while UMD fell to 10-12 overall and 7-11 in the league. MSUM is now alone in fourth place in the NSIC North Division but trails second-place Minot State and Mary by a single game. The top four teams in each division host a home game in the upcoming NSIC tournament.

Senior forward Morgan Zabel led MSUM with 24 points. She also added six assists and five rebounds. Strese had 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds while sophomore guard Meghan Roehrich added 11 points. Redshirt freshman Morgan Banasik added nine points while senior guard Haley Thomforde led with a game-high seven assists.

In a game with 11 lead changes -- most of which came in the second half -- the Dragons made key plays late to secure their fourth straight win.

UMD, which trailed 76-69 with 3:48 left but battled back to tie the game at 78-78 with 35 seconds left. With 10 seconds left, Strese was fouled and calmly hit both free throws to put the Dragons up two.

On the ensuing possession, with no timeouts left for either team, UMD's Danielle Flood drove towards the basket. However, an alert defensive play by Banasik in the final seconds knocked the ball loose and off of Flood, giving MSUM the ball with three seconds left. The Dragons were fouled with 2.4 seconds left and missed the free throw, but the Bulldogs' desperation half-court shot came after time expired, helping MSUM preserve the two-point win.

MSUM started out red-hot from the field, hitting six of its first seven field goal attempts (85.7 percent) on its way to a 14-8 lead four minutes into the contest.. Strese had five points during the stretch while Handevidt had four. Moments later, Roehrich buried a three-pointer to give the Dragons a 19-12 lead, their largest to that point.

UMD was within 33-26 but the Dragons scored five points in a row -- four coming from Zabel -- to push the lead into double digits at 38-26 with 4:22 left in the half.

MSUM's lead stood at 40-28 but the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run to close the half to cut the lead to 42-38 at halftime.

Megan Strese led MSUM with 12 first-half points while Zabel added 11. Thomforde had five of MSUM's 12 first-half assists. The Dragons shot 48.5 percent (16-of-33) in the first half compared to 41.2 percent (14-of-34) for the Bulldogs.

In the second half, UMD took its first lead since the early moments at 55-53 and from there, the game seesawed back-and-forth until the final seconds.

Thomforde added seven points for MSUM.

The Dragons go back on the road next week, opening action Friday at Augustana. Game time is 6 p.m. at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight ended the Dragons' streak  at three where they shot at least 50 percent as a team from the field. It ends the longest streak in recorded history (the 1998-99 campaign). It also clinched the Dragons' 14th consecutive winning season, all under current head coach Karla Nelson.