Moorhead, Minn. – The Minnesota State women's basketball team overcame an early deficit but ultimately came up short, taking a 66-63 loss against the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons Friday night at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
With the loss, the Mavericks fall to 11-8 (8-7 NSIC), while the Dragons improve to 15-7 (10-5 NSIC).
The Dragons opened the game with an 11-0 run forcing an early timeout from the Mavericks. After Moorhead extended its lead to 18-2, Minnesota State responded with a 12-0 run fueled by a swarming full court press, cutting the Dragon lead to 18-14 after one quarter of action.
The second quarter was back and forth with the Dragons extending their lead to as much as nine points twice.
Tayla Stuttley drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer on a beautifully drawn up play which saw her inbound the ball to the paint and kick out to the three-point line, cutting the Dragon lead to 32-27 at the half.
Stuttley finished the half with seven points while
Joey Batt contributed five of her own. As a team, the Mavericks forced the Dragons into committing 13 turnovers during the first half.
The third quarter to be much of the same with the Dragons unable to pull away and taking a 50-42 lead into the fourth. Down the stretch, the Mavericks continued to cut into the lead as the game wound down.
Down by three with just under three minutes to go,
Kirstin Klitzke drilled a three to tie things up and on the following possession
Taylor Drost hit a mid-range shot to give MSU its first lead of the game. After a Dragon miss,
Drost made another shot to put the Mavericks up by four with 1:39 to go in the game. Moorhead responded with a 7-0 run punctuated by several free throws, taking a three-point lead with 11-seconds to go. After using a timeout to advance the ball, the Mavericks were able to get
Shea Fullera good looking shot from beyond the arc, but it went just a bit long and bounced up and off the rim into the Dragon's hands where they held the ball until time expired, earning the 66-63 win.
Batt finished the game with a team high 12-points while
Drost also finished in double digits with 10.
Klitzke was the leading rebounder for the Mavericks with five boards and added nine points. As a team, MSU forced 27 turnovers which resulted in 28-points off of turnovers compared to only five for the Dragons.
The Mavericks will wrap up the weekend with a 4:00 p.m., road game against the Northern State Wolves tomorrow.
