WAYNE, Neb. – The Minot State women's basketball team lost their fourth consecutive game of the season, as the Beavers lost 72-52 at Wayne State on Saturday night.

The loss drops Minot State to 4-5 (1-4 NSIC) while Wayne State improves to 10-3 (4-1 NSIC) on the season.

The Beavers raced out to a 7-3 lead off layups from Kari Clements and Kristal Flowers and free throws from Flowers and Reina Strand. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the first quarter, as the Wildcats led 14-11 after the first quarter.

Wayne State shot 5 of 8 from three-point range in the second quarter, outscoring the Beavers 21-12 to take a 35-23 at halftime.

Minot State cut the deficit in half with a 6-0 run to start the second half off free throws and a jumper from Holly Johnson and a layup from Madison Wald.

That was as close as the Beavers could climb back, as the Wildcats outscored the Beavers 16-10 after the 6-0 run and 21-13 in the fourth quarter.

Johnson led the Beavers, scoring 23 points and notching eight rebounds. Madison Wald scored eight points and posted six rebounds while Kari Clements and Mariah Payne scored seven points each.

Diondra Denton grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and Clements dished out a team-high four assists.

Minot State recorded a 35-26 advantage in rebounding over the Wildcats while shooting 40.8 percent from the field, including 81.8 percent from the free throw line.

Wayne State shot 45.5 percent from the floor, including 42.3 percent from three-point range.

Minot State returns to action on December 19 when they travel to face Mary in a mid-week matchup at 5:30 p.m.