Box Score Box Score

MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Crookston gave up an 11-point second-half advantage as they fell 71-65 in a see-saw affair with the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons Friday night at Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead, Minn. The game saw five lead changes and four ties in the back-and-forth tussle between the two foes located just an hour apart in the Red River Valley. The Golden Eagles fall to 4-6 (1-5 NSIC) with the loss while MSU Moorhead improves to 6-4 (3-3 NSIC) with the victory.

Laurie Tyson (Sr., C, Rosemount, Minn.) grabbed 10 rebounds on the game as UMC out-rebounded MSU Moorhead 44-41 on the night. Tyson's 10 boards helped her reach 572 rebounds, which ties Kari Score's school record for career rebounds.

The Golden Eagles were paced by Brittani Wiese (Sr., G, Albertville, Minn.) who had 17 points on the night shooting 5-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Ashley Martell (So., G, Somerset, Wis.) added 11 points including three converted three-pointers. Ebony Livingston (So., G, Minneapolis, Minn.) chipped in eight points while Christine Thorn (Fr. ,G, St. Michael, Minn.) put together her best night in her early career with eight points and seven rebounds off of the bench.

UMC finished the night shooting 19-of-60 for 31.7 percent for the night and hit 10 three-pointers while shooting 35.7 percent. UMC, who came into the game struggling from the free-throw line this shooting shooting only 62.0 percent, shot 17-of-18 for 94.4 percent against the Dragons Friday.

MSU Moorhead was paced by Megan Strese's 23 points and Marisa Yernatich's seven three-pointers and 21 points. Guard Haley Thomforde led MSU Moorhead in rebounds with 10 on the game. The Dragons finished the game shooting 22-of-62 for 35.5 percent and were 7-of-17 for 41.2 percent as Yernatich was the only MSU Moorhead player to hit a trey.

The Golden Eagles got out to an early 7-2 advantage aided by a pair of Wiese free throws, Livingston lay-up and an Alexa Thielman (Fr., G, Buffalo, Minn.) three-pointer. MSU Moorhead was able to counter and take the lead at the 13:16 mark (15-13) following a converted three-point play from Strese to combat the early UMC run.

After getting down 17-13, back-to-back three pointers from Christenson and Martell gave the lead back to the Golden Eagles 19-17 with 12 minutes remaining in the opening period. UMC would get up by as many as eight points which would happen at the 5:41 mark (27-19) following two converted Tyson free throws.

The Dragons went on a 9-0 run of their own to grab the lead (28-27) following a Yernatich three with just over one minute remaining and that would be the advantage the Dragons would go into the half with.

The Golden Eagles were led by Wiese's seven points in the first half even though she played sparingly due to getting two fouls early on. Martell added six points on two treys. UMC went into the break shooting only 7-of-30 for 23.3 percent from the field. They were 4-of-13 for 30.8 percent from beyond the arc and went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe in the opening period. UMC out-rebounded the Dragons 23-18 in the first half led by Livingston with four rebounds. Livingston left the court late in the first half due to an injury but would return.

MSU Moorhead shot 9-of-26 for 34.6 percent in the first half including 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Strese led the Dragons with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting and went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Yernatich added nine points on three treys. Thomforde led MSU Moorhead on the boards with six.

MSU Moorhead would get up by as many as six points (35-29) early in the second half before the Golden Eagles would begin cutting into the lead starting with two converted free throws by Wiese at the 16:08 mark. Livingston would add two free throws at the 15:31 mark in the second to cut it to a 35-33 MSU Moorhead advantage. A Megan Strese two would get the lead back up to four for the Dragons but a quick strike from Livingston on the other end quickly got it back down to a two-point Dragon advantage.

Wiese would hit a jumper just above the free-throw line to knot the game at 37-37. Wiese would catch fire after that, hitting two treys in a row to give the Golden Eagles a 43-39 advantage with 13:16 left in the second half. From there, UMC just took control for the next few minutes of play led by a pair of threes from Thorn  following the lead of fellow St. Michael-Albertville High School product Wiese. The Golden Eagles would hold a 51-39 advantage with 12:02 remaining in the second period.

However, MSU Moorhead would mount a comeback as they cut the UMC advantage to 51-48 with 9:21 left in the half. The Dragons would again knot the game (51-51) following a Yernatich three with just under nine minutes left. But Martell would counter with a trey of her own to get the Golden Eagles back out to a 54-51 lead at the eight minute mark. After getting out to a 56-53 advantage, the Dragons again tied it 56-56 following yet another Yernatich three with seven minutes left in the game. A pair of Moenkedick free throws would again give UMC the lead 58-56 with just under six minutes left in the contest.  Strese would counter with two free throws of her own to again knot it up at 58-58.

A Thorn lay-up at the 4:30 mark would get the Golden Eagles back out to a 60-58 lead. A Morgan Zabel lay-up would give the Dragons a 61-60 advantage with three minutes remaining. MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to three (63-60) with a pair of Zabel free throws. The Dragons would essentially ice the game as a Thomforde lay-up gave MSU Moorhead a 65-60 lead with under a minute left. Despite an effort to cut into the lead, the Dragons would hold on for a 71-65 win over UMC.

The Golden Eagles will head to Northern State University for a 5 p.m. game against the Wolves at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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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).