BOX SCORE

MOORHEAD, Minn. – Abby Kenealy and Megan Stadler combined for 29 points and Southwest Minnesota State rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to edge Minnesota State Moorhead 66-64 Saturday in conference action in Moorhead.

SMSU wins its sixth straight and improves to 9-2 (3-1 NSIC); MSUM falls to 9-3 (3-2 NSIC).

The six-game winning streak is the longest for a Mustangs team since the 2004-05 squad opened the season with seven consecutive wins.

The Mustangs held a one-point lead with 41 seconds left and stopped two Dragon attempts to take the lead in the closing moments.

Kenealy finished with a team-high 15 points, while Stadler answered a scoreless first half with a 14-point second half performance. Lucia Puchelova also reached double figures with 10 points. Kenealy was equally strong on the glass, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.

Meghan Rettke's 19 points paced the Dragons.

Kenealy went right to work for the Mustangs, scoring nine of SMSU's 11 opening points, helping her team take an 11-4 lead early. But a surging Dragon squad quickly erased that deficit and took the lead off a pair of free throws from Kaycee Charette to make it 14-13.

The MSUM lead continued to grow, getting to as large as seven points with 5:49 left before the break. It took the Mustangs a minute to cut into the Dragon advantage as SMSU tied the game at 29 apiece when Puchelova connected on a three-pointer to cap a small run for the Mustangs.

The Dragons, however, returned their lead—this time to six points—before Tori Fink drilled a three-pointer just before the half to divide the deficit to three heading into the locker room.

Kenealy was dominant for the Mustangs in the opening half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.

Two quick three-pointers from the Dragons to start the second half allowed the host team to immediately open up a nine-point lead. SMSU stuck around, keeping the difference to eight or nine points for the next 10 minutes.

It was a Smith jumper from the right wing that finished off a key run to give the Mustangs a 59-58 lead—their first of the second half—with just under seven minutes left.

After briefly giving up its advantage, SMSU used a Stadler bucket and Kenealy 12-footer to retake the lead at 65-63 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

The difference would stay at two for the next minute and a half.

With her squad trailing by two and 41 seconds left on the clock, MSUM's Angie Jetvig, a 93 percent free throw shooter, stepped to the line to make just one of her two attempts.

On the ensuing possession MSUM's Betsy Dickson took a long rebound off a Smith miss and went the length of the court, looking to have a clear path to an open lay-up and the lead. However, Fink trailed the running Dickson and was able to punch the ball away from behind and foil the attempt. The Dragons, though, did retain possession.

Just moments later, the ball again found its way into Dickson's hand as the sophomore tried a lay-up from the right side but failed to convert. After a Mustang rebound, the Dragons sent Stadler to the line to sink one of her two attempts and put SMSU ahead 66-64.

MSUM had just 2.6 seconds to work with after Stadler missed her second attempt from the line. The Dragons were unable to get a shot off.

The Mustangs last won in Moorhead during the 2005-06 season.

SMSU will look for its seventh straight victory tomorrow at Minnesota, Crookston at 4 p.m.