ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver women's basketball team fought back from a 12-point, first-quarter deficit to eventually take the lead, but the Roadrunners eventually came up short Sunday in a 52-41 nonconference loss at Northern State (S.D.).
 
It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Roadrunners, who dropped to 3-8. Northern State, which has one of the top homecourt advantages in Division II even during the semester break, improved to 5-7.
 
"I like that we battled hard and came back to take the lead in the third quarter," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "We're really struggling offensively. We just can't seem to make some shots that we need to make. I feel like we're getting some good looks, but we can't knock them down. We've got to make plays."

Northern State jumped out to a 16-4 lead before MSU Denver scored the final eight points of the first period to regain contact. The Roadrunners shot just 11.1 percent (2 of 18) from the field in the second quarter while also making only half of their six free throws. Still, Northern State struggled in the period as well, and the halftime margin was still four points, at 24-20.
 
The Wolves took a 29-22 lead early in the third period, but MSU Denver stormed back with eight straight points – including 3-pointers by Jonalyn Wittwer (Fall Creek, Wis./Fall Creek) and Jaiden Galloway (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) – to take its first lead of the game at 30-29. A jumper by Mikayla Gonzales (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View) give the Roadrunners their final lead at 33-32 with 2:55 left in the quarter.
 
Northern State used a 10-0 run to take control of the game with a 45-34 lead with 7:05 left, and the Roadrunners could get no closer than seven points – at 47-40 with 4:09 to go – the rest of the way.
 
Wittwer hit 4 of 10 from 3-point range and led MSU Denver with 13 points – the senior has 106 career 3s and needs five more to move into the school's all-time top 10.
 
Emily Hartegan (Wylie, Texas/Wylie East) added 10 points. Season scoring leader Jaelynn Smith (Denver, Colo./East) had just four points, but she also contributed six rebounds and five assists. Bree Wellington (Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds in just 21 minutes.
 
As is its custom, Northern State controlled the boards with a 48-29 rebounding advantage. But MSU Denver stayed close on the offensive glass in trailing just 13-11. But ultimately the Roadrunners, combined with solid defense from the Wolves, couldn't make enough shots.
 
"Give them some credit for the way they played defensively, but there are some shots we got that are good looks that we need to make," Haave said. "We had some point-blank shots that we needed to fall, and they didn't.
 
"Because we did a good job defensively and held them 52 points."
 
Northern State shot just 41.7 percent from the field, but MSU Denver connected on a season-low 24.6 percent, negating a 16-7 edge in turnovers forced that allowed the Roadrunners to have nine more field goal attempts – but they made six fewer. MSU Denver has shot a season low from the field in two consecutive games and matched its season low in scoring.
 
Haave hoped the two-week layoff between games would help the Roadrunners shake off some of the rust before the team gets back into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play Friday and Saturday, at home, against Fort Lewis and Adams State, respectively.
 
"That's why I wanted to play this nonconference game," Haave said. "You never want to lose a game in any situation, but now at least we have a game under our belt before we go back into conference play Friday and Saturday.
 
"We've just got to find a way to be more efficient offensively. We'll keep chipping away at it."