The Peacock women's basketball team split their season series with Southwest Minnesota State University thanks to a 66-59 win in Marshall, Minn. on Saturday night. Upper Iowa, led by Blair Klostermann and Carly Pagel, willed themselves to victory as a late double-digit lead dwindled to just two in the waning minutes. UIU scored the final five points to claim the 66-59 win to improve to 2-12 overall and 2-8 in the Northern Sun.
 
Upper Iowa trailed by as many as eight points, 14-6, with two and a half minutes to play in the first quarter, but three layups by the Peacocks cut the margin to four, 16-12, as the horn sounded. All of UIU's points in the quarter came in the paint.
 
After falling behind by eight points a second time, 20-12, the Peacocks found their stride in the second quarter and rallied to take a five-point lead, 33-28, before finally settling for a 33-30 lead at halftime. UIU outscored their hosts 21-14 in the second frame fueled by 10 points on four baskets by Klostermann; the quartet of makes included a pair of three-pointers.
 
The Peacocks' success continued in the third quarter as their lead grew the minutes passed. A layup with two seconds left in the period by Klostermann gave UIU a margin of nine points, 53-44, heading into the final quarter. UIU's attention to detail on offense gave them the advantage in the quarter as the visitors didn't turn the ball over once while forcing the Mustangs into four giveaways.
 
Just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, Klostermann drained another triple and UIU had their largest lead of the game, 56-44, but the home team made one final push to get back into the fray. SMSU slowly chipped away at the lead and cut the gap to just two points, 61-59, with 1:36 to play. But after outscoring UIU 15-3 over the eight minute span, the Mustangs didn't have any gas left in the tank.
 
Upper Iowa got a big basket on the baseline from Sam Ofstad and then converted three of their final four free throw attempts to seal the seven-point victory.
 
UIU took advantage of the Mustangs' 15 turnovers converting them into a 24 points.
 
Klostermann finished with a new career-high 30 points for the Peacocks including 4 three-pointers, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, while Pagel poured in 18 points and snared 13 rebounds. Ofstad picked the right time to hit her only field goal of the night in the game's final minute, but dished out 6 assists throughout the game. Ashley Rosenstiel scored 7 points for the Peacocks knocking down all three of her field goal attempts in the first half to give UIU a spark off the bench.
 
Upper Iowa will wrap up their four-game road trip next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 13-14, at St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota Duluth in a pair of NSIC Cross Division battles. The Peacocks will face the Huskies on Friday at 6 p.m. and then visit the Bulldogs on Saturday at 4 p.m.