Box Score CROOKSTON, Minn.- On Saturday afternoon the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles women's' basketball team hosted the No. 21 Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU) Mavericks at Lysaker Gymnasium. It was senior night for the Golden Eagles as they honored the four years Jacy Christenson (Sr., G, Shoreview, Minn./ Natural Resources) has spent wearing the Maroon and Gold. The Mavericks took the victory with a final score of 69-57. The victory pushes the (MSU) Mavericks to 19-5 (16-4 NSIC) on the season while the Golden Eagles drop to 10-14 (7-13 NSIC).

The first half started off relatively slow with neither team shooting a high percentage from the field. The Golden Eagles shot just 30 percent (8-of-26 FG) while shooting zero percent (0-of-6 3FG) from behind the arc. The Mavericks, not shooting much better, were shooting 34 percent (11-of-32 FG) and just twenty-three percent (3-of-13FG) from behind the three point line in the first half. Erika McRoberts (So., F, Byron, Minn./Health Science) was the leading scorer for the Golden Eagles in the first half; she had six points (2-of-4 FG, 2-of-3 FT) with four rebounds and one assist. On the other side of the court, Karlee Gengenbacher was the leading scorer for the Mavericks. She had eight first half points (3 of 7 FG, 2 of 2 FT) and also added one rebound.

The game was close to begin the second half but half way through the first period the Mavericks started to pick up their play and pull away as a result; they increased their lead to thirteen at the ten minute mark. The Mavericks were shooting fifty-seven percent (8-of-14, 1-of-2 3FG) in the half at this point while the Golden Eagles were only shooting thirty-seven percent (6-of-16 FG, 1-of-3 3FG) from the field. Gengenbacher was leading the way for the Mavericks with 12 points (5-of-10 FG, 2 of 2 FT).

The Mavericks continued to pull away as an 8-0 run ending in a three-point play from Ali Wilkinson to put Minnesota State up 19 with 8:21 left. The Golden Eagles would not score a field goal during this stretch, which lasted over two minutes. Katrina Moenkedick (So., F, Perham, Minn./Early Childhood Education) finally stopped the bleeding a little bit with a jumper at the 8:09 mark. The Golden Eagles salvaged a little pride late as they were able to cut the deficit to 12 points as Christenson went out in fitting fashion throwing up a prayer as the shot clock ran out and hitting the three-pointer. Like a story book ending, Christenson was pulled for her final curtain call, ending a solid four years as a member of the Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team. The Mavericks would hold on to win by that margin, 69-57.

The Mavericks finished the game shooting thirty-eight percent (25-of-65 FG, 4-of-22 3FG) from the field. Gengenbacher continued her strong play throughout and was the top performer for the Mavericks. She finished the game with 16 points (6-of-11, 4-of-4 FT) and also included two rebounds to her stats.

The Golden Eagles finished the game shooting thirty-five percent (19-of-54, 3-of-15 3FG) from the field. The top scorer for them in the game was Alexa Thielman (So., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science); she had 11 points (5-of-16 FG, 1-of-2 FT) in the game with one assist and one steal. Cienna Walker (Jr., G, Ajax, Ontario/Marketing) played tough in the game; she had seven points (1-of-5 FG, 4-of-6 FT) with eight rebounds and one steal.

The Golden Eagles will look to bounce back next weekend as they finish of the regular season on the road with games against University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University. Minnesota Crookston is currently in seventh place in the NSIC North standings and their only chance of moving up in the standings would be to have Bemidji State University beat Minnesota Duluth next Friday and then beat Minnesota Duluth Saturday to earn the tie with the Bulldogs for sixth. As of today, UMC would head to Minnesota State University, Mankato for a rematch in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. The game would be slated to be played Wed., Feb. 26 at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minn. The winner would move on to the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament at the Sanford Health Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

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).