Box Score CROOKSTON, Minn.- The University of Minnesota, Crookston women's basketball team returned to Lysaker Gymnasium for today's conference matchup against The University of Mary Marauders. UMC (4-4, 1-3 NSIC) fell to the University of Mary (5-3, 1-2 NSIC) 88-66. The Marauders' hot shooting including going 34-of-68 for 50 percent and connecting on 10-of-23 for 43.5 percent from beyond the arc, led U-Mary over the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles came out battling a determined Marauder's offense, remaining at a two point deficit for the majority of the first half. The Marauders were able to eventually steal the momentum by going on a run to grab a 14 point lead. However, the Golden Eagles had yet to be overcome so easily, responding with an eight point comeback in the final five minutes of the half. UMC would go into halftime with Mary in the lead 35-42. The first half was highlighted by Brittani Wiese (Sr., G, Albertville, Minn) who became the seventh Golden Eagle to breach the 1,000 career point marker joining all-time leading scorer Jamie Zelinsky, now a graduate assistant coach for U-Mary, along with Karna Plaine, Kari Score, Steph Mayclin, Jess Forsline and Bri Zabel.

The Golden Eagles struggled to conjure up anything in the second half as the University of Mary dominated at the rim, going on another 14 point run early. Ali Collins was clutch for the Marauders, tallying 18 points from the paint, six steals and totaling 23 points in all. The Golden Eagles were finally able to get on the board again, but could not recover from the Marauders stellar offensive stand. McKenzie Foster and Laura Peterson both tallied a total of 15 points each for the Marauders while forward Shanara Clark played a clutch role off the bench for U-Mary scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. The Golden Eagle offense was outscored by the Marauders 46-29 in the second half.

Wiese stood out in multiple aspects tonight by also leading her team in points, she tallied 20 points and came away with five defensive rebounds for the Golden Eagles. Katrina Moenkedick (Fr., F, Perham, Minn.)  followed Wiese's performance, accumulating 12 points, five rebounds and two steals for her team. Senior Center Laurie Tyson (Rosemount, Minn.) finished the night with six rebounds. She needs only 10 rebounds to tie and 11 boards to break Kari Score's school record for most rebounds in a career, which currently stands at 572.

The Golden Eagles travel to Moorhead on Jan. 4 to take on the Minnesota State University, Moorhead Dragons. Tip-off is scheduled for 6pm, followed by the UMC men's game at 8pm.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site 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).