WAYNE, Neb.—A furious second-half rally by the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team was not enough as the Dragons fell to Wayne State 78-73 in action Friday night.

MSUM falls to 13-5 overall and 8-3 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while Wayne State improves to 12-5 overall and 7-4 in the NSIC.

The Dragons trailed by as many as 28 points in the first half and by 20 at halftime, but a strong third quarter by MSUM closed Wayne State's lead to just four points heading into the final quarter.  The Dragons then were able to take the lead in the fourth quarter at 64-62 after a layup by sophomore Peyton Boom, who led the Dragons with a career-high 22 points.  The Wildcats scored the next five points and then never relinquished the lead down the stretch.

Boom also pulled down nine rebounds. Senior forward Megan Hintz posted a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Natalie Steichen scored nine points and dished out a team-high eight assists. Junior guard Sarah Jacobson also had nine points.

The third quarter is where the Dragons found their spark. A Dragons three-pointer by junior guard Lauren Fech with 4:06 remaining in the third cut the lead to single digits, as MSUM was down just 51-42. The Dragons continued to cut into Wayne State's lead and ended the third quarter trailing by just four points. MSUM would outscore the Wildcats 27-11 in the quarter.

In the fourth, the Dragons tied the game in less than a minute thanks to layups by Boom and senior forward Madi Green and then took the lead but the comeback ultimately came up short.

MSUM shot 37.1 percent (26-of-70) from the field and 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from beyond the arc compared to 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from three for the Wildcats. MSUM outrebounded Wayne State 48-37.

Wayne State opened the game on the offensive, going up 12-2 with 6:34 remaining in the first. The Wildcats kept up their scoring barrage, dropping 31 total points in just the first quarter of play. The Dragons could not find an answer and found themselves down by 21 points entering the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Dragons were able to outscore the Wildcats 16-15 to conclude the quarter. With 6:47 remaining in the second however, the Wildcats saw their largest lead of the game thanks to a Wayne State layup. Now down 41-13, the Dragons were able to go on a 13-5 scoring run to close the half down 46-26.

Sophomore guard Nicole Herbranson had six points off the bench for MSUM.

The Dragons look to bounce back on Saturday with a road matchup against Augustana (S.D.) starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight marked the first loss to Wayne State since falling 81-59 in the NSIC semifinals in Sioux Falls on March 2, 2015. It was the first regular-season loss since losing 81-60 in Wayne on Feb. 6 of that same year.