UMC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL USES STRONG SECOND HALF TO BEAT CHAMINADE IN HAWAII

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Women’s Basketball team outscored the Chaminade Silverswords 31-11 in the second half and cruised to a 56-32 victory at the Shark Tank in Honolulu, Hawai’i.  Bren Fox (Jr. Norwood Young America) led UMC with 17 points and 14 rebounds.

FIRST QUARTER – 
The game was back-and-forth early on with ties at 2, 3, 4, and 6.  UMC’s Bren Fox made three free throws over a 30-second span to give the Golden Eagles a 9-6 lead with 2:16 left in the opening quarter. Chaminade tied the game with a three-pointer, only to have UMC’s Veronica Schwartz (Jr. Parkers Prairie) rattle home a three-pointer with 25-seconds left to give the Golden Eagles a 12-9 lead going into the second quarter. 

SECOND QUARTER – 
UMC had a great start to the second quarter while scoring the first five points with an Emma Carpenter (Jr. Eagan) layup and two more free throws from Fox for a 16-9 lead two minutes into the quarter.  Chaminade answered with a 7-2 run to get within an 18-16 deficit and the teams would exchange baskets the rest of the half.  UMC was leading 23-21 when Abi Fraaza (Fresh. Birnamwood, Wis) scored in the paint to give the Golden Eagles a 25-21 lead going into the half. 

THIRD QUARTER – 
Neither team came out strong in the first few minutes of the second half and Chaminade scored the first points with a layup over two minutes into the quarter to get within a 25-23 deficit.  The rest of the quarter was dominated by UMC as they outscored Chamindate 13-3 in the final seven minutes.  Fraaza and Alex Page (Fresh. Grand Forks, ND) had back-to-back layups followed by an Eden Golliher (Soph. Iron River, Mich) layup for a 31-23 lead halfway through the quarter. After a Chaminade three-point play, UMC responded with stellar defense and shut out their opponent in the final four minutes while Fraaza added a basket in the paint, Schwartz made a free throw, Page scored in the paint, and Fraaza added another basket in the paint for a 38-26 lead going into the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER-
UMC started the fourth quarter with the first four points with back-to-back baskets from Fox for a 42-26 lead.  Chaminade went on a 5-2 run to get within a 44-31 deficit with 7:35 left in the game, but the UMC defense shut them down for the next seven minutes and went on a 12-0 run behind four points apiece from Fox, and Fraaza along with three points from Golliher and a free throw from Schwartz for a 56-31 lead with one minute left and they held on for a 56-32 victory.

UMC improves to 1-4 on the year and will have a tough task on Thanksgiving as they take on defending NCAA Division II National Champion Lubbock Christian Thursday, November 25 at 6 p.m. C.T. at The Shark Tank in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The Chaps are currently ranked No. 2 in the WBCA poll and No. 6 in the D2sida poll.