The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team hit the road this weekend for two NSIC games. The first was earlier this evening against the Minot State University Beavers in a game played in the Minot State Dome. It was a game highlighted by runs, and the Beavers would go on the last one to secure a 70-63 victory. “Basketball is a pretty simple game,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Roysland. “The game came down to who was going to make more shots at the end and they were the ones who did.”
FIRST-QUARTER –
Minot State began the game strong scoring the first five points before a UMC basket from Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.) made it 5-2 Beavers with 7:19 to play in the first quarter. After a couple of Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, Minn.) free throws, the Beavers responded with a layup. Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.) would answer with a layup, cutting the Beavers lead to 7-6 with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter. After two free throws from Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, Minn.) and four points from the Beavers, UMC would go on a 5-1 run to end the quarter and take a 13-12 lead into the second quarter. The run was highlighted by an Abi Leach (Jr. Wyoming, Minn.) three-pointer.
SECOND-QUARTER –
Minot State exploded for 24 points in the second quarter, on their way to a 10-point lead at halftime. The Beavers started scoring the first four points before a Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, Minn.) jumper made it 16-15 Minot State with 7:26 to play until halftime. The Beavers would slowly build their lead to 26-19 before the Golden Eagles would get baskets from Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, Minn.) and Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, Minn.) to cut the Beavers lead to 26-23. Minot State would score the next ten points to blow the game open before an Alex Page (Fr. Grand Forks, N.D.) three right before the buzzer sounded made it 36-26 Beavers heading into halftime. “I’d like to find some consistency,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Roysland. “We have some girls that play great minutes at times, and then other times we shoot ourselves in the foot. We need to play consistent basketball for 40 full minutes.” Minot State shot 46% from three-point range to help claim the lead. UMC shot a perfect 8-8 on free throws in the first twenty minutes, but their 8 turnovers were costly as the Beavers scored seven points off turnovers.
THIRD-QUARTER –
UMC came out of the locker room and went on a run of their own to begin the third quarter. It was a 13-2 run to take a 39-38 lead with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter. The run was highlighted by three-pointers from Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, N.D.), Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, Minn.), and a layup from Abi Fraaza (Fr. Birnamwood, Wis.). After the teams traded a few baskets, Kylea Praska (Sr. Thief River Falls, Minn.) would knock down a three-pointer making it 46-45 UMC with 2:54 remaining. Minot State would score four straight points before a Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, N.D.) three would tie the game at 49-49 heading into the fourth quarter of play. UMC scored 23 points in the third quarter and shot 44% from three to outscore the Beavers 23-13.
FOURTH-QUARTER –
Minot State would break the 49-49 tie and score the first points of the quarter, but the game was quickly tied again at 51-51 after an Alex Page (Fr. Grand Forks, N.D.) jumper. The teams would trade baskets the next few minutes giving the Beavers a slight advantage at 58-56 after a Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, Minn.) three-pointer. Minot State would go on one last run to help propel them to victory. They would score the next six points to take a 64-56 lead with 3:00 minutes remaining. UMC would cut the deficit to 64-61 after a Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.) layup, but the Beavers would end the game scoring six of the last eight points to secure a 70-63 win. “I thought a few turnovers cost us down the stretch,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Roysland. “We will have to clean that up moving forward into tomorrow if we want to have success and get over the hump.”
UMC falls to 1-11 on the season and 0-6 in NSIC play. They’ll be back in action tomorrow night when they head down to Bismarck to take on the University of Mary Marauders. The tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game can be heard on KROX following the conclusion of the Crookston High School Boys Basketball game against the Hawley Nuggets. Minot State improves to 5-8 on the season and 2-4 in NSIC play with the win.
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
UMC | 13 | 13 | 23 | 14 | 63 |
Minot State | 12 | 24 | 13 | 21 | 70 |
For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
Abi Fraaza | 11 | 7 | 1 assist |
Kylie Post | 10 | 4 | 2 assists |
Bren Fox | 8 | 4 | 2 assists/1 steal |
Mary Burke | 7 | 1 | |
Jes Mertens | 7 | 8 | 2 assists |
Emma Carpenter | 7 | 2 | 1 steal |
Kylea Praska | 5 | 2 | |
Alex Page | 5 | 2 | |
Abi Leach | 3 | 1 steal |