MOORHEAD, Minn. — A balanced scoring attack held the No. 16 Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team roll to an 88-56 rout of Bemidji State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.

The win gave MSUM the Century Traveling Trophy for the next year, as the trophy will go to the winner of the second MSUM-BSU women's game of the season. This year was the trophy's first year.

MSUM, which wrapped up the NSIC North title outright with the win, is now 20-3 overall and 17-2 in the league while Bemidji State fell to 6-17 overall and 3-16 in the league. The Dragons, with a win over Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, will clinch a share of the overall NSIC title as they lead Winona State by two games.

The Dragons shot 50 percent (30-of-60) compared to 35.7 percent (20-of-56) for Bemidji. The Dragons had a 43-25 edge in rebounds. Ten different Dragons scored in the game with five players scoring at least nine points or more.

How It Happened
A big 31-point first quarter propelled the Dragons to a double-digit lead and MSUM never looked back.

MSUM led 18-13 with 2:55 left in the first quarter but closed the frame on a 13-5 run to take a 31-18 lead at the quarter break. That spurt was sparked by junior guard Jacky Volkert who had six points while senior guard Natalie Van Wyhe buried a three.

Later in the half, a three-point play from Volkert gave MSUM a 46-29 lead which was the halftime score. Volkert had 13 first-half points while junior forward Cassidy Thorson had 10.

MSUM was never threatened in the second half, leading by as many as 32 on its way to a season sweep of the Beavers.

Impact Performances
Volkert just missed a career high with 20 points. She was 11-of-12 from the foul line. She also had a game-high eight assists.

Thorson had 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting while also added five rebounds and five assists.

Junior forward Drew Sannes had 14 points and four blocks. Van Wyhe had nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

Freshman Morgan Ham had nine points while senior guard Jessica Hart and freshman forward Megan Hintz had six points each.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game
Tonight marks the eighth time in program history that the Dragons have hit the 20-win mark. It's also the second time that they have won 20 games in back-to-back seasons (21-6 last year). The other time this occurred was Lori Ulferts' 1991-1992 squad went 23-7 and they her Dragons went 20-9 the next season.

Up Next
MSUM hosts Minnesota Crookston at 4 p.m. on Saturday to wrap up their home regular season.