The University of Minnesota Crookston Eagles got a great opportunity to again play in an exhibition match with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers at “The Barn” at Williams Arena. The Gophers flexed their D-1 muscles in quarters 2-4 on their way to a 78-33 victory on Halloween.
First Quarter
The first quarter started slow for both teams as they were still looking to get their feet wet to begin the season. After alternating the first two baskets, the Gophers made a quick 5-0 run to take a 7-2 lead. The Golden Eagles showed some early toughness with Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran) quickly answering back with a layup to make it 7-4. Then trailing by six, Abigail Leach (Jr. Wyoming) picked up her first points of the year with a three-pointer to cut the lead in half. A minute later, after a Godiva Hubbard three-pointer for the Gophers, Leach followed with her second three in as many chances to get it back to a three-point deficit. However, the Gophers would continue to make shots as UMC went cold and finished with a 12-4 run to lead 25-14 after ten minutes of play.
Second Quarter
The strength and quickness for the Gophers began to show in the second quarter as they held the Golden Eagles to just five points. The defense led to many open looks for the offense. Hubbard added two more baskets, Jasmine Powell and Sara Scalia joined in with five points each, and Kadi Sissoko added two baskets as the Gophers upped their lead to 41-14. UMC finally got on the board with 2:22 remaining in the quarter on a pull-up jumper from Alex Page (Fresh. Grand Forks) and finished the quarter with the final five points. The other points came from the line, two for Kylea Praska (Sr. Thief River Falls)Â and one from Abi Fraaza (Fresh. Birnamwood, WI) to make it a 41-19 halftime score.
Third Quarter
The Golden Eagles struggled even more on the offensive side of the floor to begin the second half. A basket each from Hubbard, Scalia, and Klarke Sconiers opened the lead to 48-19. Alex Page knocked down a couple of free throws to get UMC on the board at 48-21, but those would be the only two points that they would score in the quarter. The Gophers would finish the third quarter on an 18-0 run to take a dominating 66-21 lead in the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
With both teams continuing to mix-and-match lineups, the Golden Eagles played much better in the final frame as they were able to play even with the Gophers at 12 points apiece. The first basket of the quarter went to the Golden Gophers’ Deja Winters, but UMC answered back nicely with their best stretch of the game. It started with Leach knocking down her third jumper of the game which was followed up by a personal 7-0 run from Bren Fox (RS Jr. Norwood Young America) to make it an overall 9-0 run for the Golden Eagles and the score was 68-30. After a couple more Gophers’ field goals, Veronica Schwartz (Jr. Parkers Prairie) got into the scoring action with a three-pointer to make it 74-33 before the Gophers added four more points to make it a final score of 78-33.
The Golden Eagles will be back in action on Thursday for another exhibition matchup. This time they will take on the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks at 7:00 pm.
|  | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Minnesota Crookston | 14 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 33 |
| Minnesota | 25 | 16 | 25 | 12 | 78 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Bren Fox | 11 | 6 | 1 steal |
| Abigail Leach | 8 | 2 | 2 assists |
| Alex Page | 4 | 2 | 1 assist/1 steal |
| Veronica Schwartz | 3 | 2 | – |
| Kylie Post | 2 | 3 | – |
| Kylea Praska | 2 | 1 | 1 assist |
| Haylee Wheeler | 2 | 3 | 1 assist |
| Abi Fraaza | 1 | – | 1 steal |
| For Minnesota | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Gadiva Hubbard | 17 | 5 | 1 assist/1 steal |
| Sara Scalia | 13 | 5 | 3 assists/3 steals |
| Kadi Sissoko | 13 | 7 | 2 assists/1 steal |
| Jasmine Powell | 9 | 7 | 4 assists/1 steal |
| Deja Winters | 9 | 2 | 1 assist/5 steals |
| Klarke Sconiers | 7 | 5 | – |
| Caroline Strande | 6 | 3 | 2 assists/3 steals |
| Kayla Mershon | 2 | 2 | – |
| Alanna Micheaux | 2 | 2 | – |
