Box Score (Crookston, Minn.)- The Golden Eagle Women's Basketball team opened Northern Sun play this evening against rival Minnesota, Duluth. The two evenly matched teams battled to a 58-58 tie through regulation. Overtime ended up just as exciting as the first two halves. UMC and UMD traded field goals until finally Brittani Wiese (G, 5-7, Jr., Albertville, Minn.) nailed two jumpers and a pair of free throws to go up by four 72-68.  Duluth rallied with less than 30 seconds on the clock as the team nailed a three-pointer, got a quick turnover, and Jessica Newman grabbed a last second loose ball and heaved up a prayer that found nothing but net to steal the game away from the Golden Eagles 73-72 as the clock struck zero.
 
Minnesota, Crookston's Laurie Tyson (C, 6-1, Jr., Rosemount, Minn.) started off the scoring in the game for the Golden Eagles with a two-pointer just inside the three-point line. After Duluth took a four point lead, Ashley Martell (G, 5-8, Fr., Somerset, Wis.) drained a wide open three to keep the game within one with 16 minutes left in the first half.  After expanding their lead to three, the Bulldogs were shocked when Jacy Christenson (G, 5-9, So., Shoreview, Minn.) drained a highly contested three off of a fast break turnover to tie the game at 14 with eleven minutes left in the first half.  UMD stretched the lead to as many as eight points in the first half but the Golden Eagle offense led by Tyson and Wiese bounced back to stay within two points at 24-22 at the half.
 
Golden Eagle Ebony Livingston (G, 5-9, Fr., Minneapolis, Minn.) showed her ability to drive to the basket early in the second half, scoring six points in the first three minutes. Wiese seemed to be motivated by a reach in foul called on her in the second half as she followed it up with five straight points to tie the game.  Megan Eul (F, 5-10, Sr., Rosemount, Minn.) started off slow in the first half but was un-phased in the second and nailed a three-pointer to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the second half.  Carly Rothstein (F, 5-10, So., St. Michael, Minn.) made a three to put the Golden Eagles up by two with three minutes left in the game.  The Bulldogs continued to fight back and kept up the cat and mouse game with UMC by trading leads three times in the final two minutes of the game. Shelly Stemper for Duluth snuck in the paint for an offensive rebound and put-back to give UMD the lead by two with 30 seconds to play in the game.  UMC's Eul showed her seniority by sinking both free throws to tie the game at 58 with seventeen seconds to go.  The Golden Eagles stunned the Bulldogs with their defense in the last few seconds of the second half and didn't allow a shot in the final seconds of the game, to send the game into overtime.
 
Overtime started with a pair of free-throws by both teams to keep the game tied with four minutes left in overtime. UMC's Tyson thrived in overtime giving the Golden Eagles a lead on two different occasions and causing Duluth to turn over the ball a pair of times with her inside presence.  Wiese was clutch as usual as she hit a short jumper to give Minnesota, Crookston a four point lead with a minute left. However, it was a last second shot in traffic by the Bulldogs' Jessica Newman that fell as time expired to shock the Golden Eagles and hand the team its second loss of the season.
 
The Golden Eagles were led on the night by Wiese who scored 21 points to lead all players in the contest. She was 9-17 from the field and tied a career-high with seven assists. Martell played a solid game scoring 12 points. She was 2-5 from the field and long range and a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed a career-high six rebounds in the game. Eul and Tyson added 11 and 10 points respectively with Tyson grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs were led by Shelly Stemper who tallied 16 points in the contest. Katrina Newman added 15 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Kaiya Sygulla dished a team-high six assists in the contest while the player of the hour, Jessica Newman added seven points and was 3-9 from the field. The UMD defense forced 24 UMC turnovers and turned them into 27 points. The Bulldogs also grabbed a staggering 17 offensive boards and turned them into 17 second chance points in the win.
 
Minnesota, Crookston is 3-2 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. Minnesota Duluth advances to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Saturday, December 3 to take on Bemidji State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at: www.goldeneaglesports.com.   
 
Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at #UMCAthletics.
 
The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
 
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