UMC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OVERCOMES 15 POINT SECOND HALF DEFICIT TO STUN NORTHERN STATE

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team traveled to Aberdeen, S.D. on Saturday afternoon, for an NSIC conference matchup with the Northern State Wolves. The two teams met back in December with Northern State winning 64-47. UMC was able to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit, thanks to holding the Wolves to just 5 points in the final quarter, along with knocking down 11 threes to pick up a 79-73 NSIC victory.

FIRST-QUARTER –

Northern State opened the game with the first four points before an Abi Leach (Jr. Wyoming, Minn.) three made it 4-3 Wolves. UMC would then go on a mini 6-2 run to take a 9-6 lead with 7:12 to play in the first quarter. The run was capped off by an Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan, Minn.) three. The Wolves responded with a 6-0 run of their own before a Jes Mertens (So. Devils Lake, N.D.) triple tied the game at 12-12. The teams traded a couple of buckets before back-to-back layups from Northern State made it 20-16 late in the quarter. UMC would get a layup from Abi Fraaza (Fr. Birnamwood, Wis.) with 23 seconds remaining in the quarter, and Northern State would take a 20-18 lead after one-quarter of play.

SECOND-QUARTER –

Both offenses were once again efficient in the second quarter. Both teams scored on their opening possession, and after two free throws from Carpenter, the game was tied once again at 22-22. UMC would rattle off a 6-1 run to take control at 28-23 before Northern State responded with a 7-2 run to tie the game back up at 30-30 with 5:42 until halftime. After three more points from the Wolves, Kylie Post (Sr. Corcoran, Minn.) calmed the Golden Eagles down and drilled a three-pointer, and after an Alex Page (Fr. Grand Forks, N.D.) layup, UMC reclaimed the lead at 35-33. The Golden Eagles continued to sink the long ball, as Carpenter would add two more threes in the first half to help UMC pull ahead 43-40. The Wolves would end the quarter with a jumper, and UMC would take a 43-42 lead into the locker room. UMC’s 43 points were just 4 less than they scored in the entire game the last time they played Northern State. Both teams shot over 50% in the first twenty minutes, and the largest lead for either team in the first half was only 5 points.

THIRD-QUARTER –

The third quarter was all Northern State. The Wolves started the quarter shooting lights out and going on a 16-6 scoring run to take the lead 58-49. The scoring run would force a timeout from the Golden Eagles with 5:49 on the clock. Northern State would continue the run, scoring the next 6 points to take their largest lead of the game at 64-49. Fraaza would put an end to the run, stepping outside and knocking down a three-pointer with 3:48 left in the quarter. The offenses slowed down the remainder of the quarter, and after two buckets from Northern State, and 1 free throw from Carpenter, UMC would get the last possession before the fourth quarter. Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America, Minn.) would knock down a huge jumper and give UMC a little life heading into the final ten minutes of play, as the Wolves held a 68-55 lead.

FOURTH-QUARTER –

UMC used the jumper from Fox at the end of the third quarter, to jump-start an incredible 18-3 scoring run to begin the final ten minutes of play. After two free throws from Post at the end of the run, the Golden Eagles had reclaimed the lead 73-71 after being down as many as 15 points back in the third quarter. The run was also highlighted by four more UMC three-pointers, three of which were from Mary Burke (Sr. Virginia, Minn.) Fraaza followed with a layup pushing the Golden Eagles lead to 75-71 with 4:05 remaining in the game. As incredible as the UMC three-point shooting was, their defense was just as impressive, as they held Northern State to just 2-11 shooting in the final quarter and 5 points. UMC’s defense was too much, and a Mary Burke layup with 19 seconds left iced the game away, as the Golden Eagles would pick up the win 79-73. It was the second NSIC win of the season for the Golden Eagles. UMC outscored Northern State 24-5 in the final quarter and hit eleven three-pointers to overcome the 15-point deficit. The Golden Eagles also had a balanced attack with four players in double figures.

UMC improves to 3-17 on the season and 2-12 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they play at the University of Minnesota State Moorhead. The Golden Eagles were supposed to play their matchup with Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday, but due to bad weather, the teams decided to push the game back to Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. Northern State falls to 11-13 on the season with the loss and 8-13 in the NSIC.