MOORHEAD, Minn. (Alex Nemcek Hall) [box score] -- Junior guard Heidi Matzke (Red Lake Falls, Minn.) registered her second twenty plus game of the season to lead four Beavers in double-figure scoring as the Bemidji State University women’s basketball team fell to Minnesota State University Moorhead 81-76, Friday evening from Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead, Minn.

The Beavers fall to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) with the loss while the Dragons improve to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC.

Bemidji State and MSUM played a relatively even game. In the first half of play there were five ties and nine lead changes and 12 ties and 20 lead changes for the game. The visiting Beavers hung with the Dragons until late in the second half. With the score tied for the 12th time in the contest at 63-63 with 4:33 left in the game the Dragons went on a 18-to-13 run to close out the game and earn a 81-76 win.

The first half of play went back and forth with the largest lead for either team being six points in favor of the Beavers. The largest lead for the Dragons was five points in the half. Allison Swenson netted two free-throws to give the Dragons their five point lead at 10-5 with 17:40 left in the half. BSU went on a 23-to-12 run to gain the largest lead of the half. Colleen McKay (Fr., F, Barnum, Minn.) netted one of her three, three-point baskets in the game to give the Beavers a 28-22 lead with 8:40 left in the half.

The Dragons went on its own run to close out the half to gain a 37-37 halftime tie. MSUM outscored the Beavers 15-to-9 to close out the have and salvage a first half tie. Allison Swenson netted five of her game-high 27 points during the Dragons run to close out the half.

As the second half began the two teams would continue to trade baskets. BSU regained its lead as they pushed its lead to three two times in the first six minutes of the second half. Matzke gave BSU a 44-41 lead at the 15:11 mark of the first half and then McKay knocked down her second three-pointer of the game at 13:53 to give the Beavers a 47-44 advantage.

The Dragons went on a 11-5 run over the next 5:20 to capture the lead at 55-52. A three by Krista Opheim gave the Dragons its largest lead since 2:59 left in the first half at 55-52. The Beavers would tie the game one last time at 63-63 with 4:33 left on the clock but the Dragons were to much to handle at home as MSUM took advantage of some Beaver turnovers and was able to push its lead to seven points at 73-66 and was able to hold on to the five-point victory.

Heidi Matzke (Jr., G, Red Lake Fall, Minn.) led the Beavers with a 23 point effort her second 20 plus performance of the season. Freshman Colleen McKay (Fr., F, Barnum, Minn.) continues to impress as she netted a career-high 18 points on 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc grabbing eight rebounds. Stephanie Peterson (Sr., C, Bismarck, N.D.) netted her sixth game in double-figure scoring as she dropped in 14 points while senior point guard Amy Lawson (Spencer, Iowa) chipped in with 10 points and seven assists.

Allison Swenson led a quartet of Dragons with a game-high 27 points. Jessica Fesenmaier added 18 points while Shelly Soule chipped in with 12 points and Krista Opheim added 11 for the Beavers. Fesenmaier was the only player in the game to net a double-double as she grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Bemidji State shot .409 (27-69) from the field as the Dragons shot .429 (27-63). MSUM outscored the Beavers 34-to-16 in the paint and netted six more points than the Beavers in the points off turnover category.

The Beavers fall to 48-37 all-time versus MSUM and are currently on a four-game losing streak versus MSUM.

Bemidji State (4-3; 2-1 NSIC) will look to get back on the winning track tomorrow evening when the Beavers will take on the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears from the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn. at 6:00 p.m.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).