The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team staged a late comeback, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win over St. Cloud State Saturday evening.
FIRST QUARTER –
St. Cloud State jumped out to an early 7-3 lead, but a Riley Jenkins 3-pointer brought it to a 1-score game with around 7 minutes left in the quarter. The teams were able to trade buckets for a few minutes, with the Golden Eagles coming within 1 at the halfway point. With 3:44 to go in the quarter, UMC took the lead on two made free throws from Taryn Frazer, but St. Cloud State stole the lead back on the next possession. The teams would trade threes and layups to tie it at 18 each at the 1:23 mark, and UMC took a one-point lead with 27 seconds to go in the quarter on a Willow Theil free throw. Regan Briggs hit a layup to give the Huskies the lead with 4 seconds left, and Emma Miller missed at the buzzer to keep the first quarter score at 20-19 in favor of the Huskies.
SECOND QUARTER –
The first half of the quarter remained even, with the teams exchanging buckets and eventually tying the game at 25. Hope Dudycha hit a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 Golden Eagle scoring run, which included five points from Emma Miller. Down 33-25, St. Cloud State’s Alyssa Stamer ended the run, as she tacked on a free throw to shift momentum back to the Huskies. St. Cloud State would score three more before allowing UMC a three of their own. With the score at 38-29 and just under 3 minutes remaining in the half, the Huskies benefitted from clutch free throws and a couple of field goals from Paige Lambe, who scored 7 points off the bench to end the half and cut the deficit to 2.
THIRD QUARTER –
St. Cloud State built on their momentum from the second quarter by quickly regaining the lead with a three from Stamer. The long range bucket spurred a five minute, 13-3 scoring run from the Huskies to go up 50-43. UMC finally cut the lead to two possessions with a Riley Jenkins layup about halfway through the quarter, but Lambe would answer right back for St. Cloud State. The Golden Eagles attempted to cut into the lead, but St. Cloud State continued to answer each UMC shot. The Huskies built a 63-50 advantage headed into the final frame.
FOURTH QUARTER –
The quarter started with two layups for St. Cloud State, which gave them a 17 point lead. Nicole Hernandez was the first to cut into the deficit, as a three-pointer started to shift momentum back to the Golden Eagles. It sparked a 13-2 run with buckets from Miller, Hernandez, and Rayna Klejeski to make it 69-63. St. Cloud State would score 4 more, and Miller added another UMC 3 to make it 73-66 at the 5:24 mark. There was a 90-second scoring drought before Lambe laid in another Husky 2, which was answered by seven straight points from the Golden Eagles. The run put the score at 75-73. Both teams hit late threes to make it 78-76 in the closing seconds, but a late UMC foul allowed St. Cloud State to ice the game from the free throw line. The two made free throws ended the game at 82-76 for the Huskies.
UMC is now 4-5 on the year and will host the University of Mary next Saturday. St. Cloud State is now 5-2 on the season.
Postgame comments from UMC head coach Natalie Moynihan:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| St. Cloud State | 20 | 16 | 27 | 19 | 82 |
| UM-Crookston | 19 | 19 | 12 | 26 | 76 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Emma Miller | 27 | 6 | 3 assists/3 steals |
| Riley Jenkins | 17 | 5 | 3 assists/2 steals |
| Hope Dudycha | 12 | 0 | 1 steal/1 assist |
| Taryn Frazier | 8 | 1 | |
| Nicole Hernandez | 6 | 4 | 1 steal/2 assists |
| Rayna Klejeski | 5 | 2 | 2 assists |
| Willow Thiel | 1 | 2 |
