Box Score Records

Upper Iowa 5-22 || Minot State 19-8

Recap

The Peacock women's basketball team nearly pulled off their biggest upset since moving up to NCAA Division II and joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wednesday night. Upper Iowa led Minot State for most of the game and held a one-point lead with 34 seconds to play. The Beavers converted the game-winning shot with 9 seconds on the clock and UIU's final shot was blocked silencing the upset bid and handing the Peacocks a 74-73 loss in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament.

UIU entered the game as the south division's seventh seed and took on the north's second seed in the Minot State Dome. The Beavers owned the paint to the tune of a 48-24 advantage led by Carly Boag's 46 points. Boag knocked down 18 of her 23 shots from the floor and added 10 free throws and 16 rebounds leading her team to the win.

After an early 5-0 lead for the Peacocks was erased, Minot State took a two-point lead, 10-8. Upper Iowa answered by outscoring the Beavers 22-7 over the next six minutes. The Peacocks got their 30-17 lead thanks to six points from Sam Thrapp and five from Lauren Buck. The home team buckled down on defense and held UIU to just four points over the final six and a half minutes; all four points came from the hand of Carly Pagel. While the Beaver defense was holding up, their offense was catching up thanks to a 13-4 run over the final minutes of the half. UIU took a 34-30 lead into the break.

Carly Boag was dominant in the first half hitting 9 field goals in 12 tries; the team only converted 11 field goals in the half. Boag went to the locker room with 24 points, while UIU was led by Thrapp's 9 points in the half.

An 8-0 run early in the second half gave Upper Iowa a 48-42 lead and was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Thrapp and Laura TerHark. The Peacocks held their lead until just over four minutes to play when Katie Hardy hit a pair of free throws to break the game's seventh tie and put the home team ahead 64-62. Whitney Kieffer tied the score on two occasions over the final minutes thanks to a three-point play (68-68) and a pair of free throws (70-70) with 2:30 and 1:11 on the clock, respectively.

Carly Boag netted her 46th point of the night with a layup to push the Beavers ahead by two, 72-70, but UIU answered with a huge three from Buck that pulled the Peacocks into the lead, 73-72 with 34 seconds to play. After a quick timeout, Minot State scored the game-winner with 9 seconds to play when Christina Boag netted a layup sending the Beavers to the quarterfinals.

UIU Leaders

Thrapp… 20 points, 6 assists || Kieffer… 16 points, 5 rebounds || Pagel… 10 points, 3 rebounds || Buck… 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals || TerHark… 9 points