UMC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LOSES ANOTHER HEARTBREAKER TO UNIVERSITY OF MARY

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s basketball team was back in action on Friday night after having last week’s NSIC games canceled due to COVID-19 concerns within the program. The Golden Eagles welcomed the University of Mary Marauders into Lysaker Gymnasium for a rematch of a thrilling 74-73 Marauders victory over UMC back on December 18. UMC lead for over 34 minutes in the game, but once again, The Marauders made a fourth-quarter push and were able to score a game-winning layup in overtime to defeat the Golden Eagles 72-70. “This one stings for sure,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Royslund. “That is the second time we’ve let one slip away against them and we definitely could’ve won that game.”

FIRST-QUARTER –

The Golden Eagles came out ready to play and led for almost the entire first half. UMC started the game on a 6-0 run with 4 points from Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, Minn.), and a layup from Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.). The teams traded a couple of baskets before an Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, Minn.) and one gave UMC an 11-4 lead. The Marauders would answer with a layup, and after a Post jumper, UMC led 13-6 with 4:21 left to play in the first quarter. The Golden Eagles would go cold the rest of the quarter, and The Marauders would outscore UMC the remainder of the quarter 9-3 to cut the lead to 16-15 Golden Eagles after the first ten minutes.

SECOND-QUARTER –

Both teams struggled to score early in the second quarter, resulting in the University of Mary taking a slight lead at 18-16. UMC would score the next four on layups from Haylee Wheeler (So. Lakeville, Minn.) and Post, and after a Marauders layup, the game was tied at 20-20 with 3:43 remaining until halftime. UMC would score the next five on two free throws from Fox and another and-one from Carpenter to take a 25-20 edge. After the Marauders hit the first three of the game, the Golden Eagles would get another score from Fox making it 27-23 UMC late in the second quarter. The teams traded a few baskets the rest of the way, and UMC would find themselves in front 31-25 after the first twenty minutes. The Golden Eagles were led by Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, Minn.) with 12 points and 5 rebounds. “Bren (Fox) had a great game and was huge for us inside,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Royslund. “She did a great job defensively and was a big part of our success tonight.” The Marauders dealt with foul trouble the entire half with five different players recording 2 or more fouls.

THIRD-QUARTER –

UMC got a quick layup from Carpenter to begin the quarter, and after a Marauders layup, Mary Burke would answer back with a jump shot giving UMC a 35-27 lead. The teams traded baskets until back-to-back three-pointers from the Marauders made it 41-40 UMC with 4:49 left in the third quarter. UMC would get a Post free throw, and a layup from Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, N.D.) to stretch the lead back to four points at 44-40. The teams would trade a few baskets and after a Mertens free-throw, UMC would take a 49-44 lead into the final quarter.

FOURTH-QUARTER –

The University of Mary came out firing to begin the final ten minutes and went on a 6-0 run to take a 50-49 lead. The lead never got above 3 points the rest of the game for either team. Both teams struggled to score and after free throws from both teams, UMC would find themselves ahead 57-54 with 1:48 left. The Marauders would get fouled on their next possession and convert two free throws to pull back within 1 point at 57-56. After a stop and a layup from the Marauders, UMC would find themselves down 58-57 with one minute left. Each team would be stopped and UMC would have the ball with 15 seconds left. The Golden Eagles would drive to the rim and throw a pass out of bounds with 4 seconds left, forcing them to foul the Marauders. The Marauders would make both free throws and UMC would trail 60-57 with 3 seconds left and need a three-pointer to tie the game. That is exactly what the Golden Eagles got, UMC threw a pass down the court to Post, who dumped it off to Carpenter, and she would bank in a three-pointer with 0:1 left on the clock, tying the game at 60-60. “That is exactly how we wanted to execute that play,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Royslund. “We run that play in practice every day and it’s nice to see it work in a game.” After a lengthy review, the call would stand, and the game would head to overtime. It was the only three-pointer UMC made the entire game.

Both teams scored the first three times they touched the ball in the overtime, making the score 66-66 with 3:03 left. Scoring for UMC during the stretch was Post with 4 points and Wheeler with a layup. After a couple of stops, the Marauders would score a layup, and after Post answered with another layup of her own, the game was 68-68 with 1:07 remaining. The Marauders answered with another layup, and this time Mertens would be the one to answer back for the Golden Eagles, with a layup to tie the game at 70-70 with 27 seconds to play. The University of Mary would get the last possession of the overtime and execute a play to perfection for a wide-open layup with less than a second left to win the game 72-70. “This loss is tough,” said UMC Head Coach Mike Royslund. “We lost the game because of missed layups and plenty of opportunities that we had and couldn’t take advantage of. The game wasn’t lost on one possession.”

UMC drops to 1-17 on the season and 0-12 in NSIC play. They will be back in action tomorrow when they host Minot State at 3:30 p.m. inside of Lysaker Gymnasium. Minot State won the first matchup between the two schools this year 70-63. The game can be heard on KROX starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 3:00 p.m. The University of Mary improves to 12-13 and 6-10 in NSIC play with the win.