Trailing 82-78 with 16.8 seconds remaining, the Minot State women’s basketball team was staring directly at another conference loss Friday evening against Minnesota State Mankato.

But senior guard Kari Clements wasn’t going to let that happen again. Clements scored the Beavers’ final five points in the dying moments of regulation to force overtime at 83-83.

“We never gave up the whole time,” Clements said. “And my team believed in me and that’s what got us the win.”

Clements, who went off for a career-high 34 points, then took a backseat scoring wise and watched her teammates finish off the job in overtime for a 93-87 statement victory.

Alex Eisen/MDN MSU's Mariah Payne (4) dribbles with the ball against Minnesota State Mankato Friday evening in Minot.

Not only did the dramatic home win snap a six-game losing streak and give Minot State (6-7, 1-6 NSIC) its first conference win of the season, the overtime thriller also marked the first time in program history that the Beavers beat Mankato (now 1-7 all-time).

Meanwhile, Mankato (5-6, 2-5 NSIC) has now dropped six out of its last seven games.

“For once, all the breaks went our way,” MSU head coach Mark Graupe said. “We were down four and there wasn’t much time left… You’d probably think there was no chance at all. ‘Here we go again, another heartbreaker.’ But, we have had a enough of those.”

A seven-point first quarter by Clements had the Beavers down a point, 14-13, through the first 10 minutes. Mankato, still leading by a point at 28-27, went on a 9-0 run and looked poised to take a double-digit lead into halftime.

MSU, however, answered with a 6-0 run in the final minute of the second quarter, which included a quick steal and Minot State basket off a Mankato turnover as they tried to inbounds the ball under its own hoop.

Despite shooting 46.4 percent from the floor compared to Mankato’s 41.9 percent in the first half, the Beavers trailed at halftime, 37-33.

A 10-0 MSU run early into the third quarter, featuring 3-pointers by Clements and Mariah Payne, gave the Beavers the lead back at 46-44.

Both teams traded baskets until the end of the third quarter. Mankato held a 59-58 lead at the break after a three-point play was completed by Maddy Olson.

The Mavericks went to a 1-3-1 zone in the fourth quarter and Minot State picked it apart with easy layups inside.

Clements sunk a 3-pointer to give MSU a 74-67 lead with 4:04 left in regulation. MSU forward Haley Hildenbrand fouled out a minute prior and gave more minutes to Reina Strand down the stretch.

Payne played carefully and stayed out on the court with four fouls.

Mankato tied the score again at 76-76 on a 3-pointer by Kirstin Klitzke with under two minutes to play in regulation. A layup inside by 6-foot-5 Mankato center Kristi Fett and free throws made by Tayla Stuttley made it 82-78 Mankato with 16.8 seconds left.

Clements got fouled not intentionally (made one free throw) and then stole the ball and made a layup, 82-81.

“We all just kept fighting,” Clements said. “We got a couple of steals and made the baskets. We fight until the end no matter what. Our record doesn’t show how good we are.”

Klitzke went 1-for-2 at the free throw line at the other end. MSU quickly outletted the ball to Clements and she raced down the court. Coast-to-coast Clements got to the rim for a game-tying layup to force overtime, 83-83.

Graupe unleashed a fist pump in excitement.

“Her speed was like nothing I’ve seen before,” Graupe said. “Not necessarily her quickness laterally, but her speed from end-to-end.”

Clements didn’t score in overtime. Instead, MSU senior guard Madison Wald shined with six points and Payne delivered the dagger with a clutch 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining.

“Mariah (Payne) was struggling with her shooting and she hit some big shots,” Graupe said. “This was a team win. I’m so proud of them because we have been snake-bitten this year. Finally, one went our way.”

The 93 points scored was the second-most in Minot State’s DII history — a point shy of tying the record of 94 points. The game-high 34 points by Clements was the fifth-most in a single game in MSU’s DII history.

Wald finished with 23 points, followed by Hildenbrand (11) and Payne (10) in double figures. Hildenbrand also grabbed eight rebounds.

Mankato was led by Stuttley with 15 points.

Next up, Concordia-St. Paul makes a visit to the Minot State Dome this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. A quick turnaround for the pumped up Beavers.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.