BISMARCK, N.D. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team placed three players in double figures, but the Dragons came up short on the road against Mary on Friday, dropping a 69-64 contest to the Marauders in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action in Bismarck, N.D.

MSUM fell to 6-7 overall and 5-4 in the NSIC with the loss while Mary improved to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in the league.

Junior forward Heather Strese had 16 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Meghan Roehrich had 15 points. Sophomore guard Morgan Banasik added 12 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Natalie Van Wyhe added four assists while Roehrich had two steals.

The shooting percentages were comparable with MSUM hitting 37 percent of its attempts (20-of-54) compared to 37.7 percent for Mary (23-of-61). MSUM hit just 4-of-19 three-point attempts (21.1 percent) while Mary hit 8-of-26 (30.8 percent). Mary had a slight 43-42 edge in rebounds.

The Dragons trailed by as many as 14 in the second half and faced a 52-39 deficit with 8:26 left. But they fought back with a 19-7 run over the next five minutes to cut the lead to 59-58 with 3:37 left. Roehrich led the run with six points while Banasik had four. Freshman guard Mallie Doucette drained a three to help the Dragons erase the double-digit deficit.

However, one point was as close as MSUM would get, as Mary scored the next four points to take a 63-58 lead with 2:24 left. MSUM got back within three after Banasik hit two foul shots and Strese went 1-of-2 from the line in the final minute, but Mary buried four free throws in the final 26 seconds to ice the win.

The Dragons led 26-22 with 2:41 left in the first half after a layup by Van Wyhe. Mary ended the half by scoring eight of the next nine points to take a 30-27 lead into halftime.

Strese and Roehrich had seven first-half points each for MSUM.

Mary opened the second half on a 13-2 run to push the lead to 43-29 with 13:52 left. The Marauders maintained the lead and were up 52-39 with eight minutes left before MSUM started the rally that eventually fell short.

Redshirt freshman Drew Sannes had eight points and two blocks for MSUM. Junior forward Savanna Handevidt added eight points and five rebounds.
MSUM concludes the weekend at Minot State on Saturday. Game time is 4 p.m. in Minot, N.D.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight's loss prevented the Dragons from registering their first two-game season sweep over the University of Mary since beating them 68-57 on Jan. 6, 2007 in Moorhead, and 82-75 in Bismarck on Feb. 9, 2007.