“We played a great first half with good execution on offense and played solid defense to force turnovers,” commented M State Head Coach Janice Hendrickson. “We came out the third quarter and ultimately lost the game by being outscored 21 to 4. We made good improvements, but need to be able to play that way for a full game.”

M State placed three players in double figures, led by 20 points from Sydney Hovland, who made 10-of-11 free throws. She also had a team high 8 rebounds. Taylin Schleicher added 14 points and Kassandra Algarate added 13. Olivia Winfrey turned in a solid floor game with 4 assists, 6 steals, 7 points and 5 rebounds. M State shot just 36.5% (19-52) from the field, but made 72% (18-25) of their foul shots.

Northland got 22 points from Brooke Heggie on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and 8-of-11 from the line. She also grabbed 18 rebounds. Janie Wunderlich poured in 15 and Carly Mckash had 13 points. As a team the Pioneers shot 51% (25-49) from the field and made 16-of-23 free throws. They also won the rebounding battle 41-24.

M State (0-5) will host Vermilion at 5:30pm Friday and Mesabi Range at one o’clock Saturday afternoon.