Box Score #18 MSU Moorhead 74 Wayne State 64

            #18 MSU Moorhead built a 14-point halftime lead, then held back a third quarter WSC rally, as the Dragons posted their 15^th straight win with a 74-64 decision over the Wildcats in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Dragons are now 15-1 and a perfect 12-0 in league play while WSC sees an eight-game win streak come to a close as the Wildcats are now 13-4 and 8-4 in the NSIC.
            WSC held the lead just three times in the contest – all in the first quarter.  The Wildcats took a 10-9 lead, its final lead of the night, on a Maggie Schulte layup with 3:49 to play in the first quarter.
            MSU Moorhead then closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 19-12 lead after one quarter.
            The Dragons pushed the lead to 12 at 26-14, but WSC scored the next six points and got as close as six at 26-20 on a Anna Martensen jumper at the 4:39 mark. 
            With WSC trailing 35-27 with 1:19 to go before halftime, MSU Moorhead canned a pair of 3-pointers to close the first half to take a 41-27 lead.
            After MSU Moorhead scored the first basket of the third quarter for a 16-point lead (43-27), the Wildcats went on a 14-3 run and got within five at 46-41 following two Schulte free throws with 5:37 to play. 
            But that's as close as WSC would get as the Dragons built the lead back to 14 (59-45) at the end of the third quarter.
            The Dragons maintained a double digit lead the rest of the game with the exception of two possessions where the Wildcats cut the deficit to nine points as MSU Moorhead finished with the 74-64 victory.
            Wayne State shot 45.7 percent for the game making 21 of 46 shots.  The 'Cats were just 2 of 7 behind the arc and 20 of 26 at the free throw line.
            Martensen led WSC with a career-high 22 points, going 6 of 10 from the field and 10 for 11 at the free throw line.  Maggie Schulte and Paige Ballinger also hit double digits with 12 and 11 respectively.
            MSU Moorhead made 26 of 55 shots for 47.3 percent.  The Dragons were 6 of 16 from 3-point range and 16 for 20 at the charity stripe.
            Jacky Volkert paced a balanced Dragon scoring attack with 19 points followed by 18 off the bench from Megan Hintz.  Cassidy Thorson also hit double digits with 14.
            The Dragons held a 33-25 advantage in rebounding over WSC with Hintz hauling in eight caroms for MSUM while Schulte grabbed seven boards for the Wildcats.  MSUM held an 18-12 advantage in points off turnovers and 26-11 in bench scoring over the Wildcats.
            The Wildcats will be on the road next weekend, visiting #20 Winona State Friday evening at 6 p.m. and Upper Iowa Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest.