The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team was outscored 12-0 in a three minute span late in the fourth quarter, and that would prove to be the difference as the Black Hills State College Yellowjackets won the game 70-62 in Spearfish, South Dakota.
FIRST QUARTER –
UMC got off to a good start as Emma Miller (Jr. Albertville) made a three-pointer for a 3-0 lead. BHSU answered with a pair of baskets in a 27-second span for a 4-3 lead. The back-and-forth battle continued as UMC’s Willow Thiel (Fresh. Perham) scored in the paint before BHSU responded with a basket for a 6-5 lead. UMC’s Riley Jenkins answered with a layup for a 7-6 Golden Eagle lead three minutes into the game. BHSU answered with a six-point run for a 12-7 lead. The run ended with Miller making a basket, and after a BHSU free throw, the Golden Eagles’ Rayna Klejeski three-pointer got UMC within a 13-12 deficit with 2:46 left in the opening quarter. BHSU ended the quarter on a 6-2 run for a 19-14 lead after one quarter of play.
SECOND QUARTER –
UMC had a good start to the second quarter with a Nicole Hernandez three-pointer. After a BHSU basket, UMC’s Miller made a pair of baskets to tie the game at 21. The back-and-forth continued as BHSU scored five straight points before UMC’s Klejeski scored four points to get her team within a 26-25 deficit halfway
through the quarter. The teams exchanged free throws, with BHSU making two, UMC making two, and the Yellowjackets made two more that sparked an 8-2 run to end the half for a 37-29 lead at halftime.
THIRD QUARTER –
UMC had its third straight great start to a quarter as they started the third quarter on a 10-0 run in the first four minutes. It started with seven straight points by Jenkins, followed by a Miller three-pointer for a 39-37 lead. BHSU finally scored a basket just over five minutes into the quarter before Miller responded with a layup for a 41-39 lead. BHSU finally got their offense going with six straight points for a 45-41 lead with three minutes left in the quarter. UMC’s defense was stellar in the final minutes as they didn’t give up a point, and the offense behind Miller and Hope Dudycha scored the final four points to tie the game at 45-45 going into the final 10 minutes.
FOURTH QUARTER –
BHSU scored started the fourth quarter by going on an 8-2 run for a 53-47 lead four minutes into the quarter. UMC’s Hernandez hit a three-pointer before the BHSU went on a 12-0 run for a 65-50 lead with 2:45 left in the game, the biggest lead of the game. UMC’s Miller tried to get her team back into the game with back-to-back three-pointers and after a BHSU free throw, Jenkins buried a three-pointer to get within a 66-59 lead with 39 seconds to go. BHSU made four free throws before Miller made a three-pointer with eight seconds left in the game to get within a 70-62 deficit and that is how the game would end.
UMC drops to 1-4 on the year and will play South Dakota Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota on Friday. BHSU improves to 4-2 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| UM-Crookston | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 62 |
| Black Hills State | 19 | 18 | 8 | 25 | 70 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Emma Miller | 27 | 10 | 3 assists/2 steals |
| Riley Jenkins | 12 | 5 | 3 blocks |
| Rayna Klejeski | 7 | ||
| Nicole Hernandez | 6 | 7 | 7 blocks/2 steals |
| Hope Dudycha | 4 | 2 | 1 assist/1 steal |
| Willow Thiel | 4 | 2 | 1 block |
| Natalie Mikrot | 2 |
