The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Women’s basketball team had two offensive droughts, and it proved to be costly in a 76-54 loss to the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in an NSIC matchup at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth.
FIRST QUARTER –
The game started with the teams going back-and-forth with ties at 2 and 5 before Crookston’s Emma Miller (Sr. Albertville) had back-to-back baskets for a 9-5 lead. Duluth bounced back with an 8-0 run for a 13-9 lead with 4:14 left in the quarter. UMC chipped away at the deficit and after an Anna Westby (Fresh. Eveleth) three-pointer to get within a 15-14 deficit with 2:24 remaining. UMC’s offense struggled in the final minutes of the quarter as Duluth ended on a 7-0 run to take a 22-14 lead going into the second quarter.
SECOND QUARTER –
Duluth started the quarter with two layups in the first 38 seconds for a 26-14 lead. Crookston responded with baskets from Westby and Rayna Klejeski (Jr. Barnum) to get the deficit to single digits. After a Duluth basket, Crookston’s Miller made a layup, and Klejeski added a jump shot to get within a 28-22 deficit. Crookston’s offense has disappeared for a five or so minute span in every game they have played this year, and tonight’s game wasn’t any different. Crookston didn’t score for almost seven minutes, and Duluth added seven points in that span to take a 35-22 lead with 1:41 left in the half. UMC’s Tayden Hanks (Jr. Los Lunas, NM) stopped the drought with a layup with 39 seconds to go, and the teams exchanged three-pointers in the final nine seconds. Duluth took a 38-27 lead into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER –
Crookston had a much better start to the second half as they started on a 9-2 run in the first three-plus minutes with a three-pointer from Hope Dudycha (Jr. Austin) and baskets by Westby, Klejeski, and Riley Jenkins (Jr. Galesburg, IL) to get within a 40-36 deficit. After the teams exchanged baskets, Duluth went on a 12-0 run over three minutes to build a 54-38 lead with 2:18 left in the quarter. Crookston’s Westby made a layup before Natalie Mikrot (Sr. Willow River) buried a three-pointer to get within a 54-43 deficit, but Duluth ended the quarter with a basket to take a 56-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
Crookston scored the first five points of the final quarter with a three-pointer from Miller, who added two free throws less than a minute later. Once again, Duluth went on a big run and scored the next nine points to build a 67-48 lead over three minutes into the quarter. The teams exchanged baskets for the next four minutes and Duluth led 73-54 with over two minutes remaining in the game. Duluth scored the only points in the final two minutes of the game with a three-pointer and won the game 76-54.
Crookston drops to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the NSIC and will host Bemidji State on Saturday. Duluth improves to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Crookston | 14 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 54 |
| Duluth | 22 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 76 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Emma Miller | 16 | 3 | 5 steals/3 assists |
| Rayna Klejeski | 15 | 3 | 1 assist |
| Anna Westby | 11 | 7 | 4 blocks/1 steal |
| Hope Dudycha | 3 | 1 steal | |
| Natalie Mikrot | 3 | 1 | |
| Riley Jenkins | 2 | 7 | 6 assists |
| Tayden Hanks | 2 | 1 | |
| Emma Pierson | 2 |
