BISMARCK, N.D. – A record-tying performance from freshman Morgan Ham sparked the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team to a 73-53 win over Mary in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Bismarck, N.D.

MSUM (13-1, 10-0 NSIC) has now won 13 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in school history. The 1991-92 Dragon team won 16 games in a row. Mary fell to 9-9 overall and 4-6 in the NSIC. The win gave the Dragons a season sweep of the Marauders.

Ham tied the single-game MSUM record with seven 3-pointers, hitting 7-of-7 attempts to tie the record set by Marisa Yernatich in 2013.

MSUM was 14-of-25 from three in the game, which is a season-high for three-pointers made and just one away from tying the school record of 15. The Dragons finished shooting 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field, including 56 percent from three-point range.

How it Happened…
The three-point shooting proved vital for the Dragons as they hit 14-of-25 attempts compared to 6-of-16 for Mary.  The Dragon defense was strong as a whole, holding the Marauders, who had beaten No. 25 Northern State the night before, to 35.8 percent shooting (19-of-53).

MSUM never trailed in the game. The Dragons held a 15-14 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter but scored 16 straight points, extending the lead to 31-14 with 6:43 left in the second quarter. The Dragons held the Marauders without a point for more than 10 minutes in the first half.

The Marauders cut the lead to 10 at 33-23 with 2:55 left in the first half, but the Dragons scored the final eight points of the frame to break the game open at 41-23. Ham and senior guard Natalie Van Wyhe each buried threes during that run.

A three-point play from junior Drew Sannes gave the Dragons their largest lead at 46-23 with 7:56 left in the third. Mary climbed within 48-33, but the Dragons scored eight in a row – six coming on threes from Ham – to take a 56-33 lead, and from there, MSUM's lead never dropped below 15.

Impact Performances..
Ham had a career-high 21 points after going 7-of-7 from three.

Thorson had 12 points and four assists while Hintz had 12 points. It was the fourth double-figure scoring game of the season for Hintz.

Van Wyhe and Sannes each had nine points; Van Wyhe was a perfect 3-of-3 from the three-point line.

Volkert had seven assists while Van Wyhe had six.gHGTr5rfdx Van Wyhe, Volkert and Sannes had four rebounds each.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game
Including tonight's win, the Dragons have now won 25 of their last 29 games versus NSIC North opponents.

Up Next
MSUM continues a stretch of four straight road games on Friday, Jan. 13 at Augustana. Game time is 6 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena in Sioux Falls, S.D.