UMC Women’s Basketball gets shut out in final 2:44 in close loss to BSU

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team tied the game at 68 with 2:44 remaining but couldn’t find the bottom of the net for the remainder of the game in a tough 77-68 loss to the Bemidji State Beavers in the regular season finale.

FIRST QUARTER
Bemidji State looked poised to get off to a good start, and they did so, scoring the first two buckets and keeping the Golden Eagles scoreless for the first 2:15. That’s when Emma Miller (Sr., Albertville) began to stake her claim on this game, scoring 6 points as part of a 10-0 run for the Golden Eagles, putting them up 10-4. The Beavers were looking to crawl back, but at the under-five timeout, UMC still held a 14-9 lead. The second part of this half flipped on its head, however, as BSU began to find a rhythm. With 3:46 left, Tieryn Plasch and Evyn Eppinga sparked a big run for the Beavers, going on an 11-2 spurt to take a 22-16 lead. Rayna Klejeski (Jr., Barnum) hit a layup with 11 seconds remaining, but the Beavers took a 22-18 lead into the second quarter.

SECOND QUARTER –
Eppinga got off to a great start in the second quarter, hitting a three-pointer to put her at 12 points and the lead at 25-18. UMC needed a spark, and that came from Natalie Mikrot (Sr., Willow River), who went on an 8-0 run by herself to put the Golden Eagles up 26-25. Emma Miller added a deep one of her own to make it 29-25, capping off an 11-0 run. The Beavers had an answer, though, as Gabrielle Fineday hit back-to-back threes to put BSU up 31-29 with 4:42 remaining. Eppinga then scored the final 8 points of the half for the Beavers, but when BSU had a 36-31 lead, the Golden Eagles found an answer, ending the half on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 39 headed into the break.

THIRD QUARTER –
The third quarter saw both teams increase their intensity, and scoring opportunities became a bit more sparse. That wasn’t the case in the first few minutes, though, as the game was tied at 45, then at 47 with 7:14 remaining. From there, the scoring pace slowed down significantly. UMC scored 4 points in the next 2:28 to take a 51-47 advantage, and then a Miller jumper established a 53-50 lead with 4:11 to go. BSU cut the lead to 1 with 3:53 left, and then there were no points for either side until there was 1:14 left, when BSU took a 54-53 lead. Tieryn Plasch then hit a jumper in the final minute, giving the Beavers a 56-53 lead headed into the 4th quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER –
Evyn Eppinga hit yet another three-pointer on the first BSU possession to put them up six, and after UMC cut the lead to two, BSU scored five in a row to tie their largest lead at 64-57, with 6:52 to play. UMC needed another spark, and they got it this time from Halle Winjum (So., Crookston), who recorded back-to-back transition layups to cut the lead down to 3. BSU pulled ahead by four at 68-64, but then Rayna Klejeski began to take over down low, playing aggressively with four fouls and scoring two tough buckets to tie the game at 68 with 2:44 to go. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, though, this seemed to be where the gas tank hit empty. The Beavers scored the final nine points of the game and completely shut down the Golden Eagle offense, allowing them to take a 77-68 victory.

UMC ends the regular season at 8-20 on the season, and 7-15 in the NSIC. Due to beating Augustana, UMC has clinched a spot in the NSIC Tournament as the #12 seed.