The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team’s offense sputtered in the second half as the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bearts pulled away for a 94-74 victory in a Northern Sun Conference game.
FIRST QUARTER –
Concordia-St. Paul scored the first basket of the game before UMC answered with a Rayna Klejeski (Jr. Barnum) basket and two Emma Miller (Sr. Albertville) free throws for a 4-2 lead. CSP answered with a 7-2 run for a 9-6 lead. CSP led 13-11 with 4:12 left in the quarter when UMC’s Riley Jenkins (Jr. Galesberg, IL) made back-to-back three-pointers, and after a Golden Bear free throw, Hope Dudycha (Jr. Austin) to cap a 9-1 run to give the Golden Eagles a 20-14 lead with two minutes left in the quarter. The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way and UMC had a 25-18 lead going into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER –
CSP started the second quarter on a 6-2 run before Miller hit a runner through the lane. CSP scored four more points to get within a 29-28 deficit. UMC countered with a 9-2 run as Jenkins scored the first five points and Klejeski and Miller added baskets for a 38-30 lead with 4:21 left in the half. CSP took over the rest of the quarter as they went on a 12-2 run over a two minute span to take a 42-40 lead. The teams exchanged baskets before UMC’s Jenkins made a three-pointer for a 4-44 lead with 34 seconds to go. CSP made a shot in the final seconds to take a 46-45 lead into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER –
UMC scored the first four points of the third quarter with two points each from Klejeski and Anna Westby (Fresh. Eveleth) for a 49-46 lead. CSP answered with three points to tie the game at 49 before Miller made a runner for a 51-49 lead. After a CSP basket, Klejeski made a free throw for a 52-51 lead with 6:15 left in the quarter. The game was tied at 52 and 54 before CSP ended the quarter on a 17-4 run to take a 71-58 lead going into the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
CSP started the fourth quarter on a 9-4 run to build a commanding 80-64 lead two minutes into the quarter. UMC responded with an 8-3 run behind a strong basket in the paint from Klejeski and back-to-back three-pointers from Emma Miller to bring the Golden Eagles within a 83-70 deficit. UMC’s offense went cold again as they only scored four points in the final five minutes of the game and CSP won the game 94-74
UMC drops to 3-13 overall and 2-8 in the NSIC and will host Wayne State on Friday, January 16. Concordia-St. Paul improves to 9-6 overall and 5-5 in the NSIC.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Crookston | 25 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 74 |
| Concordia-St. Paul | 18 | 28 | 25 | 23 | 94 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Other |
| Emma Miller | 23 | 5 | 7 assists/3 steals |
| Riley Jenkins | 18 | 3 | 1 assist/1 steal/1 block |
| Rayna Klejeski | 16 | 5 | 1 block |
| Anna Westby | 9 | 2 | 3 steals/2 blocks/1 assist |
| Hope Duddycha | 4 | 1 assist/1 steal | |
| Halle Winjum | 3 | 4 | 5 steals/1 assist- |
| Emma Pierson | 1 |
