FARGO, N.D. – Kahla Becken tallied a career-high 21 points and Taylor Thunstedt matched her career-best with 15 points, helping the North Dakota State women's basketball team (8-10, 4-2 Summit League) to an 81-60 victory over the Fort Wayne Mastodons (7-11, 1-4 Summit League) Saturday, Jan. 17, in front of 686 spectators inside the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Bison improve to 8-10 overall and 4-2 in Summit League play. Through six league games, the Bison sit in second-place, a half-game behind league leader South Dakota. Fort Wayne drops to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in league action.

Becken converted 7-of-10 shots and made 4-of-6 three-pointers to tally 21 points. The seven made field goals and four made treys tied her career-highs. Thunstedt went 4-for-6 from the field and connected on 3-of-5 threes for 15 points. Brooke LeMar also reached double figures, netting 14 points. Marena Whittle paced the Bison on the glass, snagging a game-high 14 rebounds.

North Dakota State shot 48 percent from the field, making 25 of 52 shots, and 44 percent from three-point range, going 7-for-16. The Bison were 75 percent from the free-throw line, making 24 of 32 foul shots.

NDSU outrebounded Fort Wayne, 47-39, and dished out 18 assists.

Trailing 16-15 with 8:14 to go in the first half, Thunstedt and Becken drilled back-to-back threes to give the Bison a 21-16 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. The Bison lead grew 38-26 after Becken connected on another trey with 32 seconds to go. NDSU went into halftime leading, 40-28.

NDSU continued its offensive surge in the second half, ballooning the lead to 53-33 after four consecutive made free-throws from Whittle and LeMar with 13:10 on the clock. Fort Wayne cut the Bison lead to 56-45 at the 7:53 mark, but a 5-0 run spurred by an Emily Spier jump shot and a Becken layup and foul shot pushed the lead back to 16 with seven minutes remaining.

The Bison never let the lead dip below 13 the remainder of the game and led by as much as 23 in the final minutes on their way to victory.

Haley Seibert paced Fort Wayne in scoring with 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting.

The Mastodons went 24-for-74 from the field for 32 percent, and were just 2-for-23 from beyond-the-arc for nine percent. Fort Wayne shot 53 percent at the charity stripe, making 10 of 19 free-throws.

North Dakota State begins a three-game Summit League road trip on Thursday, Jan. 22 at Omaha. Tip-off inside Sapp Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7 p.m.