MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team dropped a 66-48 contest to Northern State in the home and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener for the Dragons on Tuesday in Moorhead, Minn.
MSUM fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC while Northern State improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the league.
Sophomore guard
Mariah McKeever and freshman guard
Natalie Jens each had 11 points for MSUM. Junior forward
Peyton Boom had eight points.
Freshman forward
Paige Thompson had eight rebounds for MSUM. Junior guard
Natalie Steichen had three assists and three steals.
MSUM shot just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) for the game and went 0-for-13 from three-point range. The Dragons also committed 19 turnovers.
MSUM was down five after one quarter but came back to take a 24-22 lead on a three-point play from McKeever which capped off a 7-0 run with 8:03 left in the second.
A layup by senior forward
Emma Thuringer put MSUM up 28-24 at the 4:35 mark of the second quarter, which was MSUM's largest lead. But the Dragons wouldn't score again the rest of the half as the Wolves ended on a 7-0 run to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.
MSUM led 36-35 after a Jens basket with 6:51 left in the third, but the Wolves closed the quarter on a 15-1 run to take a 50-37 lead into the final quarter.
The Dragons didn't get closer than 11 in the final quarter. They hit just 6-of-28 field goal attempts (21.4 percent) in the second half.
MSUM will compete at the Dacotah Bank Classic on Friday and Saturday in Aberdeen, S.D. The Dragons will open with Michigan Tech at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game
Tonight marks just the second time in history (since the NSC/NSIC began in 1979/1980) that the Dragons' third opponent of the season was a conference opponent. Last season (affected by Covid-19) was the only other season this occurred. The Dragons began last season with two games at Augustana, then opened up the NSIC season with a 77-67 home victory over Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 8, 2021.
