Box Score Box Score

MANKATO, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Crookston mounted an impressive comeback bid that saw them cut a 23-point Minnesota State University, Mankato to only five points with 1:40 remaining but the Mavericks would hang on for an 85-78 win Saturday at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minn. The Golden Eagles fall to 7-15 (4-14 NSIC) on the season. Minnesota State improves to 18-4 (14-4 NSIC) with Saturday's victory.

Down 61-38 with 12:50 left in the second half, the Golden Eagles would out-score the Mavericks 32-14 over the next 11 minutes to cut Minnesota State's advantage to five around the two-minute mark. UMC was led on the night by their seniors. Laurie Tyson (Sr., C, Rosemount, Minn.) would put together one of her most impressive performances of her four-year career with 15 points and eight points while Brittani Wiese (Sr., G, Albertville, Minn.) added 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field. Carli Bunning (Sr., F, Boone, Iowa) also provided a spark in the second half, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds off the bench. In addition, Ashley Martell (So., G, Somerset, Wis.) added 14 points including four three-pointers.

The Golden Eagles shot 27-of-61 for 44.3 percent from the field and were 6-of-17 for 36.3 percent from three-point range. UMC out-rebounded Minnesota State 26-23 led by Tyson's eight rebounds.

The Mavericks were paced by Ali Wilkinson's 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Wilkinson was also 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Steffaney Thomas would add 15 points, Aubrey Davis chipped in 13 and Karlee Gengenbacher added 11 for the Mavericks. Minnesota State shot 29-of-64 for 45.3 percent and were 6-of-27 for 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.
The Golden Eagles went down 9-2 early on against Minnesota State but UMC was able to get back into the fray as they would get within two points of the Mavericks 17-15 at the 9:26 mark following a Martell three. Thomas converted two free throws to move Minnesota State ahead 19-15 with 7:47 left in the opening half. A Tyson jumper again moved the Golden Eagles within two at 19-17. Tyson then hit a free throw on the next possession to make it 19-18 with 6:46 left in the first half. The Mavericks against responded as Thomas converted a three-point play to put Minnesota State back up 22-18. The Mavericks would continue to lead by four at 24-20 but UMC again fought their way back to 24-22 on a Jaya Perkins (R-Fr, G, Lakeville, Minn.) jumper. A three-point play from Wilkinson again put the Mavericks out to a comfortable 27-22 advantage. From there, Minnesota State would use a 6-0 run led by an Anna Leloux three and lay-up and a Jamelia Hudnell three-point play to put the Mavericks up 35-24 with 3:25 left in the first half.

The Golden Eagles would cut into the Mavericks lead using a 6-0 run led by four points from Wiese to cut the Minnesota State lead to 40-35 with 32 seconds remaining. Thomas would hit a jumper to get the Mavericks out to a 42-35 lead going into the break.

Wiese led UMC with nine first-half points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Tyson added seven points while Martell chipped in six points on two three-pointers. The Golden Eagles were 13-of-29 for 44.8 percent from the field and 4-of-4 for 44.4 percent from three in the first half. Minnesota State narrowly out-rebounded UMC 18-17 in the opening period led by four rebounds from Alli Hoefer.

Minnesota State was paced by 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from Thomas. Wilkinson chipped in nine points in the first half. The Mavericks were 16-of-35 for 45.7 percent from the field and were 2-of-14 for 14.3 percent from three in the opening period.

The Mavericks would start the second half on a 7-1 run to get out to a 49-36 lead with 18:04 remaining in the second half led by four points from Wilkinson. After a Katrina Moenkedick (Fr., F, Perham, Minn.) lay-up, Minnesota State again went on a run scoring the next 12 points led by five from Wilkinson to get out to a 61-38 advantage over the Golden Eagles with 12:50 remaining.

UMC countered with a 13-0 run of their own as Tyson opened up the scoring with a jumper, after a stop on the defensive end, Moenkedick hit a lay-up for the Golden Eagles. A three from Martell and a lay-up from Erika McRoberts (Fr., F/C, Byron, Minn.) would cut even further into the Maverick lead. Four consecutive free throws from Alexa Thielman (Fr., G, Buffalo, Minn.) would culminate the UMC run which cut the Minnesota State advantage to 61-51 with 9:39 remaining in the half.  Hillary Paulson hit a lay-up for the Mavericks to end the Golden Eagle run with nine minutes left in the second. The Golden Eagles wouldn't let up however as they scored four straight points with two McRoberts free throws and a Bunning lay-up to cut the Minnesota State advantage to 63-55 with 7:37 left in the half.

The Mavericks however would get their advantage back out to 12 points after two made free throws from Thomas with 6:10 left in the half. UMC would again fight to crawl back into the game going on a 6-0 run as Bunning hit a lay-up and Tyson hit a lay-up and two free throws to cut the lead down to six points (69-63) with 5:25 remaining.

Minnesota State would widen their lead to nine points with 3:47 remaining but Martell connected on a trifecta to cut the lead back down to six with 3:39. After Davis hit one-of-two from the line for the Mavericks, Moenkedick would connect on a lay-up to cut the Minnesota State advantage to 75-70 with 2:24 remaining.

However, the impressive comeback bid for the Golden Eagles would come short as the Mavericks would hang on for an 85-76 win over UMC.

The Golden Eagles will stay on the road next weekend as they face University of Mary Feb. 15 and Minot State University Feb. 16.

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).