Box Score Post-Game Interviews with Mike Roysland and Christine Thorn

CROOKSTON, Minn. - In an important Northern Sun Intercollegiate Sun Conference North Division matchup, the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles won a thriller against the Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) Dragons 65-63 at Lysaker Gymnasium. The senior-led Dragon team could not keep possession of the ball allowing 20 points off 19 turnovers to the Golden Eagles. Christine Thorn (So., G, St. Michael, Minn./Elementary Education) made the game-winning layup for the Golden Eagles with 30 seconds remaining in the game to deliver the victory for Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Eagles remain dominant at home, as they move to 7-4 in games played at the friendly confines of Lysaker Gymnasium.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 7-9 (4-8 NSIC) with Saturday's win over their rivals from just down Highway 75 in Moorhead, Minn. The Golden Eagles earn a split with MSU Moorhead on the season, as the Dragons fall to 9-7 (5-7 NSIC) with the loss. The Golden Eagles are now in a tie for seventh place in the NSIC North standings with Bemidji State University and one game back of MSU Moorhead in sixth place.

After three straight losses, UMC was itching to get back to their winning ways. Cienna Walker (Jr., Ajax, Ontario/Marketing) epitomized this, coming off the bench and leaving it all on the court. She had nine points and six rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. Another bench mate, Thorn, made great contributions. Thorn had eight assists to go along with the game-winning basket for the Golden Eagles.

The usual suspects, Katrina Moenkedick (So., F, Perham, Minn./Early Childhood Education) and Alexa Thielman (So., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science) led the team in scoring with 14 and 16 points respectively.

MSUM was led by their three seniors. Megan Strese, Haley Thomforde, and Morgan Zabel combined for 47 of the team's 63 points and 20 of the 41 rebounds. The Dragons were held to 32.4 percent shooting in the second half and 22.2 percent from three. Ultimately, it was turnovers that did MSUM in.

Early on UMC struggled again from the field hitting on only three of their first 13 shots. This led to a 14-7 MSUM lead. One bright spot at the beginning of the game was the ability of the Golden Eagle defense to force turnovers.

The UMC offense was intent on getting the ball into the paint. That focus along with the turnovers allowed UMC back into and gave them a lead at the 8:16 mark.

Thielman and Ashley Martell (Jr., G, Somerset, Wis./Health Science) were able to get the perimeter attack each hitting a three within two minutes of each other to make the score 21-17.

Zabel and Thomforde continued to be a force on the offensive end for the Dragons. Without much help from anybody else on the offensive end, these two were forced to do all they could to keep the Dragons in the game.

A couple buckets from Megan Strese and Meghan Roehrich brought MSUM back even with the Golden Eagles with 2:43 left in the half and a score of 26-26.

A basket at the buzzer by Megan Strese again brought the score even at 30-30 going into the half.

The Golden Eagles main advantage in the first half resided on turnovers. They were able to force 10 turnovers that led to nine points as opposed to MSUM's four points off turnovers.

Despite allowing five offensive rebounds MSUM was able to limit the Golden Eagles to only three second chance points. The Dragons shot 10% better than UMC from the field as their clear advantage.

Individually, UMC was led in scoring by three players-Moenkedick, Thielman, and Martell, each with six. Walker cleaned the glass for the Golden Eagles grabbing six rebounds in the first half.

MSUM was led by seniors Thomforde, Zabel, and Strese who had nine, nine, and six points respectively. Savanna Handevidt aided the seniors by grabbing four rebounds for the Dragons.

The Golden Eagle offense came out firing in the second half outscoring MSUM 8-2 in the first three minutes of the second half.

Back-to-back threes by Thielman extended to Golden Eagle lead to 12 at the first media timeout.

During the timeout, Coach Karla Nelson of MSUM instructed her players to "wake up." It appeared to work as the first possession out of the break ended with a Thomforde made jumper.  That basket sparked an 8-0 for the Dragons to bring the score to 44-40 in favor of UMC. Up to this point, only nine of MSUM's 40 points came outside of their senior trio. This makes the fact that the Golden Eagles had zero points from seniors even more impressive.

Walker made a few stellar plays down the stretch for the Golden Eagles. She had a three point play, a driving layup and a big steal to maintain a six point lead for the Golden Eagles with 5:30 left to play.

MSUM regained the lead with 3:40 left in the game on a Strese basket. This was their first lead since 8:16 in the first half.

Moenkedick tied the game at 63-63 for the Golden Eagles with 1:15 left. After a couple stops thanks to allowing offensive rebounds, the Golden Eagles overtook the lead on a layup by Thorn. She blew right by her defender on a well-run play.

MSUM had an open look to take the lead, but missed the left corner three. Another offensive board gave MSUM the ball underneath with 15 seconds remaining. The Dragons got two more good looks, but were unable to convert either attempt conceding the game to the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles will begin a four-game road excursion as they will take a trip across the border to North Dakota in search of their first road win of the season. On Friday, the girls will play Minot State (12-4, 8-4 NSIC). Then the Golden Eagles will look to end the University of Mary's (9-6, 7-5 NSIC) four game winning streak. Last year the Golden Eagles won one of the four matchups against these two opponents with the win coming against Minot State.

 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).