MOORHEAD, Minn. — A big night from senior forward
Savanna Handevidt sparked the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team to a 61-53 win over Minnesota Duluth in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday night in Moorhead, Minn.
MSUM improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC North with the win while the Bulldogs fell to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the league.
Handevidt recorded her third double-double in the past four games with career-highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds. She finished 9-of-18 from the floor and also added two assists and two steals. Senior forward
Heather Strese added 14 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Junior guard
Morgan Banasik had nine points, while sophomore guard
Cassidy Thorson had seven points and a team-high four assists.
The Dragons shot 36.2 percent (25-of-69) from the field, compared to 40.7 percent (24-of-59) for the Bulldogs. MSUM had a 43-39 edge in rebounds and committed just six turnovers, compared to 13 for the Bulldogs.
MSUM led 30-23 at halftime and held a 32-28 lead with 8:39 left in the third quarter before going on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes to push the lead to 48-28. Handevidt sparked the surge with nine points while Thorson had five. MSUM held the Bulldogs without a point for more than five minutes in the third quarter.
MSUM led 48-32 after three quarters. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 58-53 with 1:59 left, but Banasik responded with a three-pointer with 1:14 left to push the lead back to eight at 61-53, which was the final score.
The Dragons led 19-10 after one quarter but UMD cut the lead to 23-22 with three minutes left in the second quarter. Handevidt scored four points and Banasik drained a three to push the lead to 30-23 by the half.
Handevidt had 10 points and five rebounds in the first 20 minutes for MSUM.
Junior guard
Natalie Van Wyhe added five rebounds for MSUM while freshman guard
Jacky Volkert had four points and two assists off the bench.
MSUM plays at Northern State for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday, Dec. 19 to wrap up the pre-Christmas part of the Dragons' schedule.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons committed nine turnovers on Friday night and six tonight. This marks the first time this millennium that the Dragons have had fewer than 10 turnovers in back-to-back games.
