MOORHEAD – Sophomore guard
Mariah McKeever scored a career-high 32 points as the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team regained control of the Century Trophy with an 83-63 win over Bemidji State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Moorhead.
MSUM improved to 7-12 overall and 6-9 in the NSIC with the win while Bemidji State fell to 13-9 overall and 11-7 in the league. The Century Trophy goes to the winner of the second meeting of the year between the two teams. Bemidji State swept both meetings last year to claim possession.
McKeever finished with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting. She was 4-of-8 from three-point range in her first career 30-point game as a Dragon. It was the Dragons' first individual to score more than 30 or more points since
Kiley Borowicz scored 37 against Augustana on Jan. 19, 2019.
Junior forward
Peyton Boom also had a huge night with a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of 2021-22. Junior forward
Shyanne Loiland had her first double-double as a Dragon with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Loiland and senior guard
Natalie Steichen had four assists each.
Caption
The Dragons never trailed, scoring the game's first four points as part of a 15-7 run to open the contest.
MSUM took a 39-30 lead into halftime and controlled much of the first half, outrebounding Bemidji State 23-16 (9-3 on the offensive glass). The Dragons had a 20-6 edge in points in the paint and a 16-3 edge in points off of turnovers.
McKeever (16 points) and Boom (12 points) combined for 28 of MSUM's 39 first-half points. The Dragons led by as many as 11 in the first half.
The Dragons continued their solid play in the third, pushing the lead to as many as 18 points.
Bemidji State climbed within nine in the fourth quarter (66-57 with 5:17 left) but MSUM finished strong with a 17-6 run to push the final margin to 20.
Steichen, forward
Emma Thuringer,
Nicole Herbranson and
Aliyah Miller were honored after the game as part of Senior Night.
MSUM hosts Minnesota Crookston at 1 p.m. on Sunday to wrap up the weekend.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game
Today was the first time the Dragons won after being held to under 50 points in their two previous games since beating Bemidji State 70-59 in Moorhead on Jan. 17, 1998. The Dragons lost seven nights earlier 66-42 at Winona State And 77-48 at Northern St. three nights earlier.
