Box Score

MOORHEAD, Minn. - No. 20 Minnesota State Moorhead's Katie Walden banked in a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to help her Dragons erase a one-point deficit and defeat Southwest Minnesota State 59-57 Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM improves to 17-4 (10-4 NSIC), while SMSU drops to 11-13 (3-11 NSIC)

This was the second meeting between the two squads this season; SMSU defeated the then No. 11-ranked Dragons 59-55 on Jan. 2.

Tori Fink led the Mustangs with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Sara Leidall also finished with 13 points, and Megan Stadler added 11.

Alison Nash-Gerlach's 17 points led MSUM, the central region's third-ranked team.

Just five minutes into the contest, SMSU looked to be up to the task of taking down the nationally ranked Dragons again, jumping out to a pair of four-point leads early, the second coming at 9-5.  But a taller MSUM squad silenced the early Mustang spurt, taking a 10-11 lead when Meghan Rettke sank a jumper with 10:27 left in the opening half.

The Dragons stretched that lead to as many as six twice, using an Angie Jetvig three-pointer with just under five minutes left in the half to lead 23-17.

The Mustangs chipped away though, managing to close the deficit to just one point at 23-22 by finishing the half on a 5-0 run.

SMSU scored another four unanswered points to open the second half to take a three-point lead.  Following a brief Dragon response that saw the host team grab a four-point advantage, the Mustangs used two Leidall layups and a Heather Smith free throw to go up five at 40-35.

With her team trailing, Nash-Gerlach went to work, scoring the next 11 Dragon points to put MSUM by one point a 46-45 with just under eight minutes remaining.

The Dragons held a lead for the next seven minutes, claiming a 56-54 advantage with 3:22 remaining.  The next two minutes went scoreless.

Stadler finally broke the drought with 1:06 remaining, drilling a three-pointer to put the Mustangs up by one and in view of another upset.

On the ensuing possession, Walden used the glass to sink a three-pointer that put the Dragons up one point at 59-57.  The made basket came after Betsy Dickson corralled an offensive rebound after a missed Nash-Gerlach lay-up.

With just seven seconds remaining and trailing 59-57, SMSU's Abby Oakland's three-point attempt was off the mark, giving the Dragons the ball and, what looked like, the game.  Dickson grabbed the defensive board and was quickly fouled.

At the line to shoot a pair, Dickson failed to convert either, giving SMSU one more shot to either tie or win the game.  Stadler took the ball the length of the court and pulled up from 15 feet, but her attempt did not fall.

The loss was SMSU's fourth of the season by four points or less.

The Mustangs finish this weekend road set tomorrow at 6 p.m., taking on Minnesota, Crookston.