MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 16-ranked Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team kept its hold on first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 73-66 win over Southwest Minnesota State Friday night in Marshall, Minn.

MSUM is 17-2 overall and 14-1 in the NSIC; the Dragons lead Winona State by two games in the league standings with seven games left. SMSU fell to 2-17 overall and 2-13 in the league.

The Dragons shot 40 percent (28-of-70) from the field while SMSU shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54). Both teams had 38 rebounds although MSUM had an 11-4 edge in offensive boards.

MSUM finished the game with 23 assists.

How It Happened…
MSUM never trailed in the game and had a 31-23 advantage at halftime, thanks to 10 points from junior forward Drew Sannes. SMSU cut the lead to 38-32 with 6:05 left in the third but the Dragons responded with a crucial 12-2 run to push the lead to 50-34 with 2:25 left.

Junior Cassidy Thorson was the spark during that run with eight points; she hit two 3-pointers during that stretch.

A three-pointer brought SMSU within 71-66 with four seconds left, but a pair of Thorson foul shots in the final seconds iced a 73-66 Dragon victory.

Impact Performances
Thorson finished with 24 points of 6-of-12 shooting. She was 6-of-10 from three-point range and 6-of-6 from the foul line.

Sannes had 23 points and seven rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jacky Volkert had six points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Freshman Megan Hintz had eight points while senior guard Natalie Van Wyhe had four assists and three steals.

Up Next
MSUM will play at Sioux Falls on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game
Junior forward Drew Sannes attempted 29 field goals on Friday. The all-time 42-year-old school record is held by Mary Ann Donnay who attempted 36 against North Dakota in the 1974-75 season.