UMC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS IN CLOSE GAME TO ST. CLOUD STATE

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team put their three-game winning streak on the line Thursday night when they traveled to St. Cloud to take on the St. Cloud State Huskies. UMC fell behind early but got things rolling in the second half. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, their second-half comeback wasn’t enough in a 67-59 loss.            

FIRST-QUARTER –

Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, Minn.) got the scoring started with a three, and after St. Cloud State answered with a three of their own, Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, Minn.) would score a layup giving UMC an early 5-3 lead. St. Cloud State once again tied the game before Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.) put UMC back in front 7-5 on another layup. UMC would go scoreless the final 6 minutes of the quarter, and the Huskies would capitalize and go on an 8-0 scoring run to take a 13-7 lead after ten minutes of play.

SECOND-QUARTER –

The Huskies continued their scoring run and stretched the lead to 17-7 before an Abi Leach (Jr. Wyoming, Minn.) three finally put an end to the scoring drought for UMC. UMC would cut the lead down to six points at 20-14, but St. Cloud State would close the first half on a 12-6 run to take a 32-20 lead into the halftime break.

THIRD-QUARTER –

The offenses finally opened up for both teams in the third quarter, and UMC started with the first four points all from Post. St. Cloud State countered with a 4-0 run of their own, and UMC answered back with a free throw from Post, and a three from Burke to make it 36-28 Huskies. UMC would cut the Huskies lead all the way down to five points after another Mary Burke three, and after the teams traded a few baskets, the score was 42-35, St. Cloud State, with 4:23 to play in the quarter. UMC continued to shoot the three-ball well, and after a Huskies three, Burke would cash in another one, and Leach would follow that with one of her own to make it 45-41 Huskies. St. Cloud State would end the quarter with a pair of layups and give themselves a little breathing room with a 49-41 lead heading into the final ten minutes of play.

FOURTH-QUARTER –

UMC would score five of the first seven points in the fourth quarter, thanks to a three from Carpenter, and a layup from Alex Page (Fr. Grand Forks, N.D.) and the Huskies continued to hold a slight lead at 51-46. St. Cloud State quickly responded with a 5-0 scoring run, and the game never got within reach again for UMC, as the Huskies would knock down their free throws and hang on for the 67-59 victory.

UMC drops to 4-18 and 3-13 in the NSIC. They will wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they host the University of Minnesota Duluth on Senior Day. The tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. and the game can be heard on KROX starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 12:30 p.m. St. Cloud State improves to 20-3 overall and 18-2 in conference with the win.