SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team saw its tournament run end on Monday as the Dragons fell to No. 18 Wayne State, 81-59 in the semifinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
MSUM ended the season at 17-12 while Wayne State, the NSIC regular season champion, improved to 27-4.
Junior guard
Meghan Roehrich paced the Dragons with 14 points while junior forward
Heather Strese added 12. Sophomore guard
Morgan Banasik and freshman forward
Cassidy Thorson shared the team lead with seven rebounds each. Four Dragons had two assists each: sophomore guard
Natalie Van Wyhe, junior forward Savanna Handevidt, Thorson and freshman guard
Mallie Doucette.
The Dragons shot 40 percent (22-of-55) compared to 50.9 percent (29-of-57) for Wayne State. The Dragons had a 37-29 edge in rebounds, but the Wildcats committed only 10 turnovers, compared to 19 for MSUM.
MSUM never led in the game, falling behind 10-0 in the first 3:31. The Dragons started cold from the field, hitting 3-of-16 field-goal attempts as they saw the deficit grow to 24-9 by the time the second media timeout came at the 9:40 mark.
A three-pointer by Doucette brought MSUM within 38-24 with 2:54 left in the first half but the Wildcats scored the final seven points of the half to take a 45-24 lead into halftime.
The Wildcats shot 59.4 percent (19-of-32) compared to 31 percent (9-of-29) for the Dragons. Strese had six first-half points while Thorson had five to pace the Dragons.
Wayne State opened the second half on a 12-4 run to push the lead to 29. MSUM made a run to close the gap to 17 but got no closer.
Van Wyhe finished with nine points while Doucette had eight off the bench.
It marked the final game as a Dragon for Roehrich, who is a junior eligibility-wise but will graduate in May.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons have now lost three straight to Wayne State in the NSIC Tournament. Prior to today, the Dragons fell 73-53 in Wayne in the semifinals on Mar. 4, 2006 and Wayne St. earned a 77-70 first round win in Wayne on Mar. 3, 2010. The last (and only) time the Dragons beat the Wildcats in the tournament was in the first round in Moorhead, when the Dragons won 75-57 on Feb. 27, 2002.
