ST. CLOUD STATE’S WOMEN’S DEFENSE STIFLES UMC IN A HUSKIES 60-41 WIN

The University of St. Cloud State Huskies (SCSU) used a strong second half and great defense to defeat the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team 60-41 on Thursday night. 

FIRST-QUARTER –
After SCSU opened the scoring, UMC rattled off 5 straight points with two free throws from Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, MN) and a three-pointer from Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, MN). The Huskies would go on a 6-0 run of their own before an Abi Fraaza (Fresh. Birnamwood, WI) layup made it 8-7 Huskies with 4:33 to play in the opening quarter. The Huskies would go on another run of 6-2 to take a 14-9 lead. Kylea Praska (Sr. Thief River Falls, MN) would knock down a three-point shot with 1:04 remaining, pulling the Golden Eagles within 2 at the end of the first quarter.

SECOND-QUARTER –
SCSU would score the first 5 points of the second quarter to take their largest lead of the night at 19-12. UMC would score their first basket of the quarter on a Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, MN) jumper to make it 19-14 SCSU with 6:22 to play until halftime. Fox’s jumper turned out to be the start of a 9-0 run in a two-minute stretch, with a basket from Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, MN), and back to back scores from Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, ND) to give the Golden Eagles a 21-19 lead with 4:33 left in the quarter. After the Huskies tied the game at 21-21, Abigail Leach (Jr. Wyoming, MN) would make a three-point shot with 1:17 remaining in the half. SCSU would score the last two baskets of the half and take a 25-24 lead into the halftime break.

THIRD-QUARTER –
The teams began the third quarter trading baskets, and a layup from Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, MN) gave the Golden Eagles a 30-27 lead with 7:24 on the clock in the third quarter. Over the next 6:30, the Huskies would go on a 15-0 run that would put the game out of reach for the Golden Eagles. UMC would finally end the scoring drought on a free throw from Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, ND), but the Huskies would take a 42-31 lead into the fourth quarter.

FOURTH-QUARTER –
Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, ND) would start the fourth quarter with a made free throw, cutting the SCSU lead to 42-32. After the Huskies extended their lead, UMC would once again cut the deficit to 10 points at 51-41 with 2:41 remaining in the game, but SCSU would end the game on a 9-0 run to secure a 60-41 win.

UMC falls to 1-6 on the season with the loss and will travel to Duluth on Saturday to battle the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. SCSU improves to 4-1 on the season with the win. The two teams will meet again for their NSIC conference matchup on February 17, 2022, in St. Cloud.