T.J. Allick/MDN Minot State University’s Whitney Loftesnes goes up for a layup during the first half of a Dakota Athletic Conference basketball game against Dakota State University Friday at the MSU Dome.

The Dakota State lead turned out to be too much to overcome.

The Trojans shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the floor in the first half and hit their first five shots of the second half to build a 21-point lead they did not relinquish.

”Playing with a lead is crucial in road games,” DSU head coach Jeff Dittman said. “Minot State made a great run at us the second half but our lead turned out to be too much to overcome.”

The Beavers cut the lead to three twice in the waning minutes of the second half, but could get no closer as the No. 18-ranked Trojans hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:18 to take a 90-84 Dakota Athletic Conference women’s basketball win Friday at the MSU Dome.

”You kind of feel like you won the game with the way we played down the stretch,” MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. “Obviously, we want to win the game, but I don’t think we have anything to hang our heads about.

”Hopefully our kids learned a lesson. You have to come out ready to play.”

MSU did not Friday and DSU took full advantage. The Trojans hit 4 of 5 3-pointers and 22 of 33 in the half to take a 50-38 lead at the break.

”Any win on the road is a good win in this conference,” Dittman said. “We were very happy with how we handled their pressure in the first half.  We did a good job in transition and executed well in the half court.  I'm not sure why we lost our composure during Minot's run but fortunately we regained it in the last two minutes and got the win.”

The Beavers cut the lead to three on a three-point play by Kendra Meyer with 2:19 to play. Meyer was great in the second half, scoring 15 of her game-high 28 in the second, while running the offense much of the half.

”Kendra did a great job of keeping us steady,” Green Gerding said. “She had a great overall game, running the team.”

But the Trojans had enough in the tank to fend off the Beavers. DSU’s Nicole Geraets hit a big bucket on the Trojans’ ensuing possession to extend the lead back to to five. MSU’s Lashay Bagsby scored at 1:18 to cut the lead back to three for final time at 1:39 as Jill Hansen drilled two free throws at 1:18.

Part of the MSU surge in the second half came from renewed energy on the defensive end and part came as the Beavers were able to get DSU’s star post Laura Tewes into foul trouble.

”The thing is that Laura along with Maria (Gengler) are shot blockers and it allows our perimeter players to be more aggressive,” Dittman said. “Without their height advantage, we aren't as good at stopping penetration.”

Tewes fouled out with 2:19 to play, scoring 13 points on just 17 minutes, but the Beavers lost forward Brittni Walker two minutes earlier. Walker’s loss was big for MSU as she scored 11 of her 15 points in a 10 minute span while the Beavers were on a 25-8 run.

”It was a big loss for us because she was really starting to assert herself,” Green Gerding said.

DSU’s Jessica VanLoy was steady all night with a team-high 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Garaets was 6-for-8 from the floor on her way to 16 points, while Gengler added 14 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Trojans (1-1 DAC, 9-7 overall).

Meyer, Walker and Bagsby combined for 60 of the Beavers (1-1, 10-6) 84 points as Bagsby added 17 points and six rebounds to Meyer and Walker’s points. Caroline Folvin and MacKenzie Mack score eight and seven points off the bench respectively for MSU.