The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team needed a big win to stay in NSIC playoff contention, and senior Emma Miller carried the team when it mattered most, leading the Golden Eagles to a 62-57 win at Lysaker Gymnasium on Thursday night. Miller scored 26 points in the game and became the Northern Sun Conference’s all-time career points leader, surpassing Brooke Olson of the University of Minnesota Duluth. Miller has 1,629 all-time conference points.
FIRST QUARTER
The first quarter ran at a relatively slow pace. UMC brought out a zone defense, and MSU brought out a full court man defense, and because of this, the game was at 2-2 with 6 minutes remaining. UMC began to find some offense as Hope Dudycha (Jr., Austin) hit a 3-pointer to put UMC up 3, and UMC then found themselves up 7-4 with just over 4 minutes left. The Beavers hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, and in the last 3 minutes, the offense slowed down considerably. UMC’s Emma Miller (Sr., Albertville) hit two layups and MSU made a putback bucket and a free throw, which ended the very defensive 1st quarter at an 11-10 UMC advantage.
SECOND QUARTER –
The Beavers took their first lead of the game since 2-0 in the opening seconds of the quarter with a bucket from Maya Aguilar, and the teams then exchanged buckets until a Miller layup put the Golden Eagles up 15-12. That bucket became the start of a 9-4 run, where the Golden Eagles got fadeaway buckets from Anna Westby (Fr., Eveleth) and a 3-pointer from Halle Winjum (So., Crookston) to go up 22-16. Minot State tried to claw back, but another Westby bucket gave the Golden Eagles a 28-21 lead in the final 2 minutes of the quarter. Minot State began to rally by cutting the lead down to 4, and had a look in the final seconds, but it grazed off the rim, and the Golden Eagles took a 30-26 lead into the break.
THIRD QUARTER –
Minot State scored the first 5 points of the 3rd quarter to take a 1-point lead, but Miller responded right back to put UMC up 1. This would begin a theme of the game continuing to go back and forth. UMC pulled ahead by 4 on a Miller 3-pointer, which cemented her name as the NSIC’s all-time conference play scorer with 1,616 points and counting. Minot State had an answer, though, and made a big bucket to start a brief run which put them up 40-37. Minot State built the lead to 5 before UMC closed the lead to 1 with the help of two Winjum free throws. This put the game at 42-41 with under a minute left, and the UMC defense held firm to prevent any more points, but Minot State did take a 42-41 lead into the 4th quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER –
UMC went right to work in the 4th quarter, scoring the first 5 points to take a 46-42 lead. UMC built the lead up to 5, but then a run by the Beavers put them up 1 with 3:25 remaining. The score was 52-51, and in the next minute, a big basket by Lara Dobbins gave the Beavers a 57-53 lead with 2:12 to go. UMC called a timeout, and Anna Westby hit a clutch three-pointer to cut the lead to 1. Then, Emma Miller stole the show. She hit a three-pointer with 1:02 to go to put UMC up 59-57, then hit the dagger with a three with 16 seconds remaining. There were 13 lead changes, but the Golden Eagles ended the game on a 9-0 run to win 62-57.
UMC improves to 8-17 overall and 7-12 in the NSIC. With the win, UMC is now tied for 10th place in the conference with three games remaining. The top 12 teams make the NSIC tournament. Minot State drops to 10-16 overall and 7-12 in the NSIC.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Minot State | 10 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 57 |
| UMC | 11 | 19 | 11 | 21 | 62 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Misc. |
| Emma Miller | 26 | 9 | 3 assists/2 steals |
| Anna Westby | 11 | 8 | 1 assist/2 blocks |
| Rayna Klejeski | 10 | 7 | 2 assists/1 steal |
| Halle Winjum | 8 | 1 | 1 assist/5 steals |
| Hope Dudycha | 3 | 2 | 2 assists |
| Riley Jenkins | 2 | 4 | 2 assists/1 steal/1 block |
| Natalie Mikrot | 2 | 1 | 1 assist |
