MOORHEAD, Minn. — In a classic battle between two top 25 teams battling for first place in the conference, the No. 17 Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team earned a 70-66 overtime win over No. 20 Winona State Friday night at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM is now 18-3 overall and 15-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with the win while Winona State fell to 18-5 overall and 13-4 in the league. The Dragons now lead the conference by two games over Winona State and Sioux Falls with five league games left.

MSUM shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64) for the game compared to 41 percent (25-of-61) for Winona State. The Dragons had a big 42-33 edge in rebounds, including a 13-4 advantage in second-chance points.

How It Happened…
MSUM hit just 2-of-19 three-pointers in regulation, but two huge threes in overtime proved vital. Down 60-58, junior Drew Sannes hit a three to put MSUM up 61-60 with 3:14 left in OT.

The Warriors were within one at 63-62 with 2:10 left, but Van Wyhe delivered with a three-pointer to push the lead to 66-62, and Winona State never got closer than two the rest of the night.

Sophomore guard Jacky Volkert hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to ice the game for the Dragons.

MSUM faced an 18-3 deficit with 2:55 left in the first quarter after starting out slow from the field. The Dragons crept back into the game throughout the rest of the half and were within three at halftime thanks to a basket by junior forward Shannon Galegher in the final seconds of the second quarter.

The Dragons took their first lead of the night at 35-33 after a Volkert basket in the third quarter.

Winona State regained the lead at 54-50 in the fourth but MSUM scored the next six points — keyed by four points from freshman forward Megan Hintz — to take a 56-54 lead. The Warriors tied the game with 30 seconds left in regulation and the Dragons had a chance to win it in the final seconds but the shot wouldn't fall, sending the game to overtime.

Impact Performances…
Volkert had 21 points, eight rebounds and four rebounds to lead the Dragons.

Sannes had 19 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting.

The Dragon bench outscored Winona State 22-7 thanks to 10 points each from Hintz and Galegher.  Galegher had eight rebounds while junior Jessica Hart had seven.

Van Wyhe hit a big three-pointer in the overtime and had five rebounds and three assists.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game:
Tonight was the first time that the Dragons played an overtime game in Moorhead since losing 85-83 to Winona State in double overtime on Jan. 11, 2008.

Up Next
MSUM hosts Upper Iowa at 4 p.m. on Saturday to wrap up the weekend.