The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) women’s basketball team dropped its third straight game after getting outrebounded 47 to 25 in a 78-71 loss to Southwest Minnesota State in an NSIC game played at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minnesota.
Southwest Minnesota State scored the opening basket with a lay-up and never looked back. After Isieoma Odor (Sr., Bloomington) scored inside at the other end, SMSU scored four straight points to take a 6-2 lead. The Mustangs used another lay-up to take a 10-4 lead with 6:27 to play in the quarter. Kylea Praska (Fr., Thief River Falls) made back-to-back three-pointers pulling the Golden Eagles within 13-12 with 4:11 left in the first quarter, but the Mustangs answered with two straight three-pointers to gain a 19-12 lead. Later in the quarter, another SMSU three-pointer gave the hosts a 26-17 lead but a Paige Cornale (Fr., Oak Creek, WI) three-pointer closed the quarter for Minnesota Crookston bringing the visitors within 26-20 at the end of one quarter. “They made some tough shots,” said UMC head coach Mike Roysland. “They were able to get right to the rim. They did a nice job getting it up and giving it a chance and if they missed they got a second chance rebound. We just kept having to battle back.”
The Mustangs opened the second quarter with another jump shot to take a 28-20 lead. Southwest Minnesota State continued to keep some separation before a Bren Fox (Fr., Norwood Young America) lay-up brought the Golden Eagles within 30-24 with 7:03 to play in the first half. A pair of free throws with 3:48 left in the first half gave SMSU a 37-26 lead. An Isieoma Odor lay-up brought UMC within 39-34, but Southwest Minnesota State made a lay-up to close the second quarter taking a 41-34 lead into halftime.
Isieoma Odor brought Minnesota Crookston back within five to start the third quarter with a lay-up cutting the deficit down to 41-36. SMSU answered right back with a lay-up at the other end with another lay-up growing the lead to 45-36. Caitlin Michaelis finished a lay-up through contact and added a free-throw to pull UMC within 47-43 with 6:11 left in the third quarter. The Mustangs utilized an 8-0 run to regain a 60-48 lead before another Odor lay-up cut the deficit back down to ten with 1:56 left in the first half. A Kylie Post (Fr., Corcoran) lay-up followed by a lay-up from Paige Cornale brought Minnesota Crookston within 60-54 with 0:38 left in the quarter before an SMSU free-throw closed out the quarter giving Southwest Minnesota State a 61-54 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, SMSU opened the scoring with two more free throws to take a 63-54 lead. Minnesota Crookston’s Isieoma Odor answered with a lay-up, but the Mustangs answered with three-straight points to take a ten point lead. SMSU would lead by as many as twelve in the final quarter with Minnesota Crookston unable to capitalize on 27 turnovers from SMSU as Minnesota Crookston loss 78-71. “It came down to an inability to rebound the basketball,” summarized Roysland. “Besides that, we just had way too many turnovers (21) ourselves for us to capitalize. It’s really tough to swallow and we just made a lot of really tough decisions with the basketball. We kept coming away with nothing on good opportunities whether it was a wild shot or a turnover. I’m just terribly disappointed. I thought we got beat on some hustle points and we had opportunities to turn the tide and put some pressure on them and just couldn’t take advantage tonight.”
UMC falls to 10-11 overall and 5-10 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Saturday at Sioux Falls with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m. and the Riverview Health Pregame show beginning at 3:30 p.m. on KROX. Southwest Minnesota State improves to 10-10 overall and 7-8 in the NSIC.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| UMC | 20 | 11 | 20 | 17 | 71 |
| Southwest | 26 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 78 |
| UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Isieoma Odor | 25 | 5 | |
| Paige Cornale | 14 | 3 | 6 steals |
| Caitlin Michaelis | 11 | ||
| Kylie Post | 6 | 3 | 6 assists/6 steals |
| Kylea Praska | 6 | 3 | 3 assists |
| Amber Schoenicke | 5 | 3 | |
| Bren Fox | 2 | ||
| Steph McWilliams | 2 |
