MINOT, N.D. - The Golden Bears led by as many as nine points in the first half, but a 21-point swing in favor of host Minot State (8-10, 6-5 NSIC) allowed the Beavers to lead by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter on their way to topping Concordia-St. Paul (11-6, 7-6 NSIC) 81-70 on Saturday afternoon at the Minot State Dome.

The Golden Bears return home next weekend to close out the final set of NSIC South Division against NSIC North Division contests, hosting Northern State on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and MSU Moorhead on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Gangelhoff Center.

Concordia used a 14-2 run in the first quarter to pull ahead by nine early, 23-14 as Sydney Zgutowicz scored six points during the stretch that saw CSP shoot 5-7 from the floor while limiting host Minot State to 1-8 shooting. The Beavers scored just two points across the four and a half minutes of play as Concordia established early momentum.

Zgutowicz finished the night with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Despite Minot State scoring seven straight points in response, Concordia continued to hold the upper hand throughout the half, extending the lead back to six on multiple occasions and trotting into the halftime locker room ahead 37-33.

In the second half, Minot State stole the momentum after Lindsey Becher connected for a jumper to open the scoring to push it back to six (39-33), the Beavers rallied for 13 straight points as Concordia only scored two points on the Becher bucket in the first four and a half minutes of the second half and suddenly trailed 46-39.

The Beavers extended the lead to 10 points, 51-41, a minute later before three-straight three-pointers by Riley Wheatcraft pulled Concordia back within one, the third coming off of Meghan DuBois' third steal and fifth assist to set-up the shot, while the other two were assisted by Jadyn Hanson.

Wheatcraft finished the game with 18 points including 4-9 three-point shooting and four rebounds. DuBois had another strong all-around stat line with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals and Hanson finished wiht 13 points, six steals, five rebounds and a pair of assists.

CSP cut the lead back to one point again late in the third quarter, trailing by one entering the fourth, but the Beavers pulled away from there.

A 12-2 stretch by Minot State, fueled by a defensive effort that limited Concordia to just the two points in nearly four and a half minutes of play put the Beavers ahead by 12, 73-61 with just over minutes remaining as Kate Head knocked down a three-pointer for her 23rd point of the night.

Head finished the game with 23 points on perfect 9-of-9 shooting and added nine assists, five rebounds, a three-pointer and made all four of her free throws.

After just two points in the first half by Becher, who was hampered throughout the night by foul trouble, she turned in a strong second half with 11 points to finish with 13 on 6-of-10 shooting and one blocked shot in 20 minutes of play and avoided fouling out.

With Becher limited to 20 minutes, freshman Megan Gamble saw extended action off the bench, matching her career-high with nine rebounds in 25 minutes, adding three steals and two assists.