The UMC women’s basketball team played a great three quarters, but it was all Concordia-St. Paul in the fourth quarter as the Golden Bears pulled away for an 81-69 in a Northern Sun Conference matchup in St. Paul.
FIRST QUARTER –
The first quarter was a great back-and-forth battle as UMC started the game with Nicole Hernandez’s (Sr. Oak Creek, Wis) three-pointer less than a minute into the game. CSP answered with a three-pointer before UMC’s Hope Dudycha (Soph. Austin) made a pair of free throws for a 5-3 lead. CSP buried another three-pointer for the lead only to have the Golden Eagles Emma Miller (Jr. Albertville) make two free throws and Halle Winjum (Fresh. Crookston) make a three-pointer for a 10-6 lead with 6:14 left in the quarter. The scoring slowed down a bit as the only points over the next two minutes were a Golden Bear basket and a three-pointer from UMC’s Riley Jenkins (Soph. Galesburg, Ill) for a 13-8 lead halfway through the quarter. The teams continued their back-and-forth, and the game was tied at 19 at the end of the first quarter.
SECOND QUARTER –
CSP ended the first quarter with a free throw and scored the first eight points of the second quarter to take a 27-19 lead less than three minutes into the quarter. UMC’s Miller stopped the run with a basket and after a Golden Bear layup, UMC responded with eight straight points. Rayna Klejeski (Soph. Barnum), four points from Miller, and a jump shot by Dudycha to tie the game at 29-29 with 3:53 left in the half. CSP took a 33-32 lead before UMC scored six straight points. Jenkins hit a pull-up jump shot, Klejeski made two free throws and added a layup for a 38-33 lead with 1:28 remaining in the half. CSP ended the half on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 38 going into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER –
UMC started the third quarter with a Miller three-pointer. After two CSP free throws, the Golden Eagles Miller and Jenkins made back-to-back three-pointers for a 47-40 lead. CSP scored the next seven points to tie the game at 47 with 5:17 left in the quarter. UMC’s Miller continued to have a hot hand as she made back-to-back three-pointers for a 53-47 lead and CSP bounced back with a 10-0 run to take a 57-53 lead. UMC’s Jenkins scored the last points of the quarter with a three-pointer and UMC trailed 57-56 going into the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
UMC started the fourth quarter with two free throws from Hernandez. The teams exchanged layups before CSP went on an 11-0 run over a four-minute span to take a 70-60 lead with six minutes left in the game. Crookston’s Hernandez stopped the run with a basket, but the Golden Bears responded with three points before Jenkins made a basket, and CSP led 73-64 with five minutes remaining. The teams exchanged three-pointers and then jump shots, and the Golden Bears led 78-69 with 2:15 remaining. CSP scored the final three points of the game and won the game 81-69.
UMC drops to 6-11 overall and 4-7 in the NSIC and will take on Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. Concordia-St. Paul improves to 15-2 overall and 9-2 in the NSIC.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| UM-Crookston | 19 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 69 |
| Concordia-St. Paul | 19 | 19 | 19 | 24 | 81 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Emma Miller | 27 | 3 | 4 assists/1 steal |
| Riley Jenkins | 16 | 7 | 3 blocks/2 assists |
| Nicole Hernandez | 9 | 7 | 3 assists/3 blocks/1 assist |
| Rayna Klejeski | 6 | 4 | 1 steal |
| Hope Dudycha | 4 | 3 | 3 assist |
| Halle Winjum | 3 | 5 | 1 steal |
| Natalie Mikrot | 2 | 1 |
