The Peacocks used their best shooting night of the season to end their four-game homestand with a 65-53 victory over the Beavers of Minot State Univeristy on Saturday. Upper Iowa knocked down seven three-pointers on the night and the Peacock bench came up big with 24 of the team's points. UIU improved to 3-17 overall and 3-13 in the conference, with the program's first win over MiSU.
 
Upper Iowa converted 48.2% of their shots and got scores from eight different players. Carly Pagel led the way with a double-double thanks to 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Madi Meier came off the bench to knock down four triples and score 12 points. Blair Klostermann and Haley Martin each netted 8 points, while Sam Ofstad scored 5 and dished up 9 assists.
 
The home team took control early by going inside to Pagel. The redshirt senior scored UIU's first six points.  A three-pointer from Ofstad at the buzzer gave the Peacocks their biggest lead of the first half 24-13.
 
In the second quarter, the Beavers began to find their rhythm; MiSU went on a 17-4 run over the opening seven minutes of the quarter to a 29-28 lead over their hosts, but Upper Iowa battled back during the final three minutes to reclaim their advantage. The Peacocks shutout the Beavers going into halftime while scoring seven points to take a 35-29 lead into the locker room.
 
UIU's defense came out of the break and enforced their will on MiSU during the third quarter. The Peacocks forced the shooters of Minot State to convert only 3 of their 17 shots and dominated the glass 14-7 during the period. Upper Iowa's offense struggled as well, but two big threes from Meier gave the team a spark as UIU pushed their lead to fifteen, 50-35, heading into the final quarter.
 
Minot State tried to make a run at the Peacocks in the fourth frame, but UIU's lead only shrank into single digits on one occasion. Upper Iowa quickly returned the advantage back to double digits when Meier hit her fourth trifecta of the game.
 
Upper Iowa outscored their guests 36-24 in the paint and won the battle on the boards 38-26.
 
The Peacocks will head north next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3-4 to face the Wolves of Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. at 6 p.m. and the Dragons of Minnesota State University Moorhead in Moorhead, Minn. at 4 p.m.