Bismarck, ND—When the University of Mary and Minot State University met earlier this season it was a slow start that doomed the Marauders women's basketball team. Friday night it was a strong finish by the Beavers that was the deciding factor. Leading by nine at half, U-Mary (5-4, 3-3 NSIC) was outscored 53-36 in the second half as it fell 82-74 to Minot State (8-2, 4-2).
 
Lindsey Sand led the Marauders with 16 points and Brittney Dietz was next in line with 14. Sand struggled from the field but knocked down 7-of-8 free throws and added five assists, five rebounds and five steals. Dietz was 5-for-9 from the field and had four assists.
 
The inside-out tandem of Carly Boag and Morgan Klose was unstoppable for the Beavers as the two scored 57 of the team's 82 points and shot 21-for-29. Boag had game-highs in points, 30, and rebounds, 12. Klose scored 27 points with a deft touch from the line going 7-for-8, and from deep going 4-for-5.
 
At half U-Mary seemed to have command of the game holding a 48-40 edge in shooting percentage and a 23-14 advantage on the glass. Linda Murray's 10 points and Hannah Larson's 10 rebounds were key to the Marauders first half success. A 6-0 run late in the first half gave U-Mary its largest lead of the night at 14, but Minot State trimmed the lead to nine entering the half.
 
Coming out of the locker room energized, it took the Beavers just 4:27 to erase a nine point deficit to take their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Taking all of the momentum, Minot State built its lead to as many as 13 with 6:35 left to play. U-Mary quickly cut the margin to below 10 and ultimately trailed by just four with 38 second remaining. The Marauders were unable to finish the comeback, however, as they fell 82-74.
 
Minot State shot lights out in the second half going 17-for-29 from the field. Contrarily, U-Mary was just 11-for-36 in the second half including 1-for-8 from deep.
 
For the game Minot State outshot U-Mary 49 to 38 from the field and 37 to 14 from deep. The Marauders had an edge from the free throw line making three more shots (20-for-24) than the Beavers (17-for-24) in an equal amount of attempts. U-Mary had a 44-36 edge on the glass and a 44-36 advantage in the paint.
 
Ineffective shooting the ball, Larson made her presence felt setting career-highs in rebounding with 15 and blocked shots with five. Off the bench Sloan Turner provided a spark for the Marauders going 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points and grabbing four rebounds.
 
U-Mary will be idle until January 3 when it hosts Augustana College at 6 p.m.

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