Minot Beats Western on Buzzer Beater to run Record to 10-2

         MacKenzie Mack goes around Western's Stephanie Dana during Thurday's win

Minot State University's Ari Hendrix sent the Beavers to the break smiling.

Hendrix hit a driving layup just before the buzzer to lift No. 13-ranked MSU to a 68-67 win over Montana-Western in nonconference NAIA women's basketball Thursday night at the MSU Dome.

The hoop erased nearly two halves of frustration.

"To finish it with a play like that, it negated the other 39 minutes and 54 seconds and leaves you with a pretty good feeling," MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding said. "You kind of forget everything you struggled with to get there."

Hendrix took the ball from Sam Medcalf off an inbounds play under the Western basket and traversed the court in less than five seconds, splitting the defense just outside the key.

"We run the play a lot in practice and I think we did a pretty good job of executing it," she said. "She (Western defender) was backing off and the wings were out so I just took it to the rim. I knew I could get to the hole."

"We have done that exchange (with Medcalf) on the baseline before and we told Ari there was 5.6 second left and you can do it in four so it was a piece of cake to get it there," Green Gerding said. "She made a great play and great players do that for you."

The final push was set up by a solid individual effort the play before. Western's Jamie Lake hit a runner from just inside 10 feet with 5.6 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 67-66 lead. Lake was sensational down the stretch, scoring 10 of Western's final 12 points and finished with a game-high 20 points.

"They didn't want to go away. I thought (Western) did a great job of competing and we struggled to score," Green Gerding said.

While the Beavers (10-2 overall) struggled on offense much of the night, post MacKenzie Mack was a bright spot. She finished with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor and added nine rebounds for the Beavers.

"I think it was just opportunities," she said. "Some of our other players weren't hitting their shots, so I just made it a mindset to score some points."

About the only thing slowing Mack down was fouls. She played in foul trouble much of the night as did multiple players on both teams. The teams were whistled for 53 combined fouls and shot 69 free throws.

"It was frustrating to sit and watch. That's always hard when you are on the bench and watching the play, but it's part of the game," Mack said.

It looked like neither team wanted the win over the final five minutes. MSU missed 7 of 11 free throws in the stretch and hit just three field goals. Western wasn't much better, hitting just 1 of 5 free throws and three field goals after taking a 60-59 lead. The combination of the Beavers rebounding after giving up a lead late and executing two plays for Hendrix layups made Green Gerding feel better with the final outcome.

"When you are not hitting baskets, sometimes you have to get it inside and get to the line," she said. "The kids understood that and did the right thing."

Along with Lake, Heather Brooks and Rheanna Padden netted double figures with 10 points apiece. Laura Geis finished with points and 10 rebounds for Western (4-8), while Brooks added nine rebounds to her points.

Hendrix finished with 14 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Beavers. Sacarra Molina scored eight points and Whitney Loftesnes added six points and four rebounds for MSU.

The Beavers are off until New Year's Day when they travel to Havre, Mont., to take on Carroll College (Mont).

"This feels great. You don't want to go home for 10 days and think about a loss," Hendrix said.