Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn.- Southwest Minnesota State (2-17, 2-13 NSIC) held the second highest scoring team in the NSIC, No. 16 MSU Moorhead (17-2, 14-1 NSIC), to just 40 percent shooting from the floor, but the Mustangs were still unable to earn their first home win of the season in a 73-66 loss on Friday night in the R/A Facility.

Caleigh Rodning earned her second double-double of the season while tying a season high in rebounds with 20 points and 14 boards while going 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Lauren Hedlund (13) and Taylor Holicky (12) also reached double-digits in points on the night for the Mustangs while SMSU also held the Dragons to just 28-of-70 (40 percent) on their field goal attempts.

Southwest Minnesota State finished the night going 44 percent from the field despite shooting just 29 percent on field goal attempts in the game's opening quarter. SMSU finshed the night with a 40-36 advantage in points in the paint but were unable to find an answer for the Dragons' size inside at times, giving up 11 offensive boards to MSU Moorhead.

SMSU finished the night well below its season average for turnovers but MSU Moorhead held a 17-6 advantage in points off of turnovers. MSU Moorhead finished the night with 23 assists as a team including seven from Jacky Volkert.

MSU Moorhead jumped out to a 16-9 lead after one quarter of play with the Mustangs struggling to find their rhythm offensively. SMSU was able to stay in the game through the first half as the Dragons went just 1-of-6 shooting in the second quarter and just 7-of-20 from the field as the teams headed into the break with MSU Moorhead leading 31-23.

After back-to-back layups from Hedlund and a pair of free throws from Sarah Buysse, the Mustangs were able to get within six during the third quarter, but MSU Moorhead responded with a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 50-34 with 2:25 to play in the third. The Mustangs wouldn't go away easy as they came right back with a 10-2 run over the next 2:35, but SMSU struggled to keep the Dragons' lead to single digits in the game's final quarter.

SMSU will return to action tomorrow night as they host the Northern State Wolves for its annual Hawaiian Night starting at 5 p.m., in the R/A Facility.