SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – MSU Moorhead women's basketball saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon. The Dragons fell in an NSIC quarterfinal contest to Southwest Minnesota State, 87-79.
The teams would trade blows in the early stages as
Ashton Safranski would get the Dragons started with a three-pointer. A steal and score from Safranski not long after would have MSUM up 7-6. Midway through the first period, the squads would be tied at 11 points after a nice pass from Safranski met an open
Terryn Johnson. Southwest Minnesota State would close the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead, 22-14.
MSUM would get the score back within seven points early in the second after another Safranski to Johnson connection. Southwest Minnesota State would continue to score, however, holding an 11-point advantage with seven minutes left in the half. The Mustangs would lead 41-29 after two quarters as MSUM shot just 32.4 percent from the floor. On the flipside, SMSU connected on 55.2 percent of its shot attempts in the first half.
Johnson was key for the Dragons, scoring a team-high 12 points with Safranski and
Natalie Jens chipping in seven points. The Mustangs also held a plus-eight advantage on the glass through 20 minutes of action.
Jens willed the Dragons to baskets to start the second half, scoring seven points. MSUM would have the count at 48-40 early in the third quarter after a score from
Caylin Kelly. However, Southwest Minnesota State would respond with an 8-0 run to push their lead back out to 14 points. Four straight points from
Abby Berge would have the score at 56-46 midway through the third period.
After three quarters, SMSU would lead 70-57 as
Karlee Fisher would bank home a jumper to end the frame. MSUM was much improved on offense, shooting 64.7 percent from the floor led by Jens with 12 points in the quarter. Southwest Minnesota State would continue to connect a high rate, however, shooting 61.1 percent in the third quarter.
As the Mustangs would go cold to begin the fourth quarter, MSUM would take advantage. A 7-0 Dragon run brought the score to within single digits (74-65) with five minutes to play. Jens led the run, which was capped by a score from
Ayelishka Teko-Folly, forcing an SMSU timeout.
Strong defense would allow MSUM to come within five points with three minutes to play. Although the effort was valiant and the Dragons did not waver despite the deficit, SMSU would take the game 87-79. In her final performance as a Dragon, Jens was superb in every respect. The senior scored 29 points for the Dragons with 22 of those points coming in the second half. Johnson scored 22 points with eight rebounds as well for MSUM.
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MSUM completes the season 14-16 overall.
