And the beat goes on.

The University of Minnesota Duluth won its sixth straight game on Saturday as the Bulldogs continued to roll after taking down Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division foe Wayne State College 79-57 on the road to improve to 16-5 overall and 15-3 in the NSIC.

It is the first win at Rice Auditorium since a 63-54 win on Jan. 2, 2009. Since Wayne State and Augustana first paired up as travel partners when UMD rejoined the NSIC in 2008, the Bulldogs have never enjoyed a weekend sweep on the road against the two clubs. Today, UMD checked off the list with its 22-point win today and its 69-45 win last night against Augustana.

UMD did sweep the Wildcats and the Vikings in back-to-back games during the 2009-2010 season at home.

The 15 league wins is one away from tying the program record of 16 conference wins, which was done during the 1999-2000 season. UMD is now neck-in-neck with No. 25 Minnesota State University Moorhead, who lost 77-74 at home to the University of Sioux Falls, in the race for the NSIC crown.

The Wildcats, losers of four in-a-row, drop to 13-11 and 8-10 in league play. Wayne State had won nine of the last 10 games against the Bulldogs but UMD regained the series lead after the frontcourt duo of sophomore Sarah Grow and freshman Brooke Olson dominated the interior of the Wildcats. The duo combined for 35 points, 15 rebounds and two rejections. Grow and Olson were no match on the interior as they combined to go 16-for-31 from the floor.

They were one of the main reasons the Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 40-24 in the paint. Olson tallied a career high 18 points and collected 14 of her points in the third quarter to help push UMD's lead from six at the start of the half to 16 by the end.

The Bulldogs gathered their ninth game this season with 20 or more turnovers as Wayne State coughed it up 25 times. UMD turned the 25 turnovers into 23 points on the other end.

Senior guard Sammy Kozlowski chipped in nine points, six assists and five steals. Kozlowski, who leads the NSIC in steals, has five games with at least five steals this season. Sophomore guard Ann Simonet and senior forward Emma Boehm each buried a three-pointer and also nine points a piece. UMD shot 47.1 percent overall and 53.1 percent in the second as it outscored Wayne State by 16 in the final 20 minutes.

The Bulldogs are on the road for the third straight game as they go head-to-head with Northern State University next Friday in Aberdeen, S.D.