Heather Johnson led three players in double figures with 21 points to lead Minnesota State, Mankato to a 69-62 North Central Conference win over the University of Nebraska at Omaha Saturday at Lee & Helene Sapp Fieldhouse.

Alyssa Green led UNO with 22 points and Cayla Hargrove added 10. Amanda Brodsack led the Mavericks with 10 rebounds.

UNO, 17-11 on the season, finished NCC play at 3-9 and will play a first-round conference tournament game Wednesday at Augustana at 6 p.m. Minnesota State, now 20-7 and 6-6, will host St. Cloud State Wednesday. Winners of the first round games will play at South Dakota on Saturday, March 8.

Minnesota State escaped a see-saw first half with a 36-33 edge and then broke away early in the second half to build a 46-35 lead with 16:50 to play.

UNO made a short run, slicing into the margin with four points by Alyssa Green and a layup by Cayla Hargrove, to trail 46-41 with 13 minutes remaining.

That was as close as UNO could get until the final 80 seconds when Green's three-pointer trimmed MSU's lead to 63-59. Minnesota State answered with a layup by Joanne Noreen and tacked on a pair of free shots by Alex Andrews for a 67-59 lead with 51 seconds left.

Hargrove connected on a three-pointer 15 seconds later, but Johnson secured the win with two free shots with 18 seconds left for the final margin.

Andrews added 16 points and 11 rebounds and Noreen 11 points for Minnesota State.