Bismarck, N.D. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team suffered a, 79-68, road loss against the University of Mary on Friday evening. 

With the loss, the Mavericks overall record falls to 6-15 and 5-12 in NSIC play.

MSU found themselves down just one after the first quarter with a 20-19 score, even though the Mavericks turned the ball over eight times. A 62% field-goal percentage  by the Mavericks helped them stay close to the Marauders lead, as U-Mary finished with a 35% field-percentage in the quarter. Sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] and Sammie Delzotto [Eagan, Minn.] combined to score 14 of MSU's 19 points in the quarter. Ziegler tallied eight points and three rebounds, while Delzotto contributed with six points and four rebounds.

The Mavericks held a 23-20 lead over the Marauders early on in the second quarter, which marked as MSU's largest lead in the first half. U-Mary fought its way back for the lead and led for the last six minutes and change in the second quarter. At halftime U-Mary led 40-35 over MSU.

MSU finished the first half with a 52% field goal percentage, while U-Mary shot 39% from the field, including four made three pointers. The Mavericks posted 11 turnovers in the half, which led to 12 points off turnovers for the Marauders. 

Ziegler added seven more points, including the Mavericks first five points in second quarter to give her a team-leading 15 points at the break. Delzotto went into the locker room with nine points of her own, while junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] added six points and two rebounds.

In the third quarter the Marauders reached their first double-digit lead in the game over the Mavericks. MSU was only down three, 42-39, after back-to-back baskets from Delzotto and Scherber with a little over six minutes left in the quarter. However U-Mary started to pull away from that point on as it went on a 8-0 run the next three minutes of game action to give the Marauders a 50-39 lead. After three quarters of play, U-Mary led 58-44 over MSU.

In the final quarter of play, the Mavericks were never able to trim the Marauders lead down to single-digits until the closing the seconds of regulation. 

The Mavericks struggled shooting in the second half, as they nailed 30% of its shots, including two made three's, while the Marauders connected on 39% of their shots in the second half and nailed four more three-pointers. 

After turning the ball over eight times in the first quarter, the Mavericks cut down on the  turnovers the rest of the game as they coughed the ball up just six more times in the game. MSU outscored U-Mary, 36-24, in the paint and the Marauders outrebounded the Mavericks, 42-41.

Ziegler finished the game just shy of reaching her fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and nine rebounds. Scherber recorded 14 second half points in the game, which gave her 20 points as well in the loss. Delzotto finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Madison Lee [Coon Rapids, Minn.] tallied 10 points and four rebounds to her stat line.

The Mavericks will continue their stay in North Dakota on Saturday as they will take on Minot State in Minot, N.D. Game time is set for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.