MARSHALL, Minn. (R/A Facility) (box score)- The Bemidji State University women’s basketball team dropped its second consecutive road conference game Saturday evening in Marshall, Minn. to the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs, 75-70. The Mustangs went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe over the final minute of the game to help secure its first win over the Beavers since February 11, 2006.

In a evenly matched contest that saw 11 lead changes and 10 tied scores Southwest Minnesota State University out shot the Beavers by the narrowest of margins. The Mustangs shot 41.8 percent from the field (23-55), 44.4 percent from the three-point arc (8-18) and 72.4 percent from the charity strip (21-29) while the Beavers shot 40.9 percent from the field (27-66), 35.7 percent from the three-point line (5-14) and 68.8 percent from the charity stripe (11-16).

For the sixth time this season and the first time since Dec. 8 the Beavers were led by senior center Stephanie Peterson (Bismarck, N.D.) who notched a season-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. She also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Heidi Matzke (Jr., G, Red Lake Falls, Minn.) added 18 points, 16 of which came in the first half, on 8-of-15 shooting. Amy Lawson (Sr., PG, Spencer, Iowa) also netted double-digits with 12 points while dishing out a game-high seven assists.

SMSU was led by a trio of double-digit scorers. Liz Grider led the Mustangs with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 5-of-7 from behind the three-point line and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Abby Oakland added 15 points while Sara Leidall netted 14 points, respectively. Leidall led the Mustangs on the boards with a team-high eight rebounds while Tori Fink dished out six assists to lead SMSU to the victory.

The Beavers jumped out to an early 6-0 lead off of a Matzke three-pointer and a Lawson layup followed by a free throw. The Mustangs closed the lead to one at 6-5 with 16:54 remaining in the half. The Beavers would push its lead to eight points over the next 1:41 seconds as Matzke netted all seven of the Beavers points during the 7-0 run to give BSU a 13-5 lead with 15:03 left in the half.

The Mustangs used a 11-3 run to tie the game at 16-16 with 11:09 left in the half. Southwest Minnesota State outscored the Beavers 14-12 during the final 11-minutes of the half with a three-pointer by Abby Oakland with :05 seconds giving the Mustangs a 30-28 lead going into the break.

Both teams struggled shooting from the field in the first half as BSU shot 33.3 percent (11-33) while the Mustangs shot just below freezing shooting 31.4 percent (11-35) in the half. Heidi Matzke helped keep the Beavers in the game during the first half of play as she scored 16 of the Beavers 28 first half points on 7-of-12 shooting.

The teams traded leads for the majority of the second half. SMSU built a five point lead (52-47) with 11:29 remaining in the second half. BSU went on a 19-14 run over the next 8:12 to gain its largest lead of the second half at 66-61 with 2:41 left in the game. Two Heidi Kimmes free-throws and a Liz Grider three-pointer tied the game for the 10th and final time at 66-66 with 1:54 to go in the contest.

The Mustangs outscored the Beavers 9-to-4 during the final two minutes and went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe to garner a 75-70 win over the Beavers.

The Mustangs snap a three game losing streak to the Beavers with the win and improve their record to 34-29 all-time versus Bemidji State.

The loss leaves BSU with a 10-10 mark on the season and 6-5 in the NSIC which drops them to a tie for fifth in the conference with Winona State University. Southwest Minnesota State improves to 8-11 overall and 4-7 in the NSIC.

Stephanie Peterson moves into ninth on BSU’s all-time scoring list passing Maggie Gernbacher (2003-06). Peterson currently sits with 1,110 points in her career. Peterson’s nine rebounds moved her into third place on BSU’s all-time rebounding list passing Sherry Hill’s (1979-82) mark of 797. Peterson sits with 802 rebounds in her career. Peterson joins Karen Morrisey (1993-97) and Liz Mulvihill (1983-87) as the only three players in BSU history to garner 1,000 points and 800 rebounds in a career.

BSU will return home for their next two games, with conference matches versus Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State University Moorhead. The Beavers will host Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 1 and MSU Moorhead on Feb. 2 from the BSU Gymnasium. Tipoff is slated for a 6:00 p.m. start for both games.

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

--beavers--