Box Score MANKATO, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team would battle early on, but a 29-7 run during a seven-minute stretch of the second half would guide the 19th-ranked Minnesota State University, Mankato Mavericks to a 106-63 win over  the Golden Eagles. The season ends for Minnesota Crookston in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.

UMC was the No. 7 seed in the NSIC North while Minnesota State was the No. 2 seed in the NSIC South. The Mavericks will move on to the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Sunday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., where they will play the winner of the Winona State University and University of Mary game.

Minnesota Crookston got solid games out of their big two, Katrina Moenkedick (So., F, Perham, Minn./Early Childhood Education) and Alexa Thielman (So., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science). Moenkedick finished with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, while Thielman added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Thielman was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Ebony Livingston (Jr., G/F, Minneapolis, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) added nine points for Minnesota Crookston.

UMC was 22-of-58 from the field for 37.9 percent and were 7-of-17 for 41.2 percent. A big stat for the game was 24 turnovers, including 15 in the second half.

Minnesota State was led by 31 points from senior Ali Wilkinson, who added seven boards. Wilkinson was 9-of-11 from the field and 12-of-13 from the charity stripe. Jamie Bresnahan added 12 points, while Ashley Olson would hit five three-pointers off the bench for 15 points.

The Mavericks shot the lights out on the game, hitting 35-of-67 for 52.2 ercent and connected on 13 three-pointers for 50 percent. Minnesota State controlled the boards on the night, out-rebounding UMC 41-28.

The Golden Eagles were led by 15 points at the break from Moenkedick, who was 7-of-11 from the field. Thielman chipped in eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, including going 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Minnesota Crookston was 13-of-34 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the three-point line.

Minnesota State was paced by 10 points from Bresnahan on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc. Wilkinson and Olson each added nine points. Minnesota State was 16-of-30 from the field for 53.3 percent. The Mavericks were 6-of-12 from beyond the arc. The Mavericks controlled the glass, out-rebounding UMC 21-15 led by four boards from Karlee Gengenbacher.

The Mavericks got out to the early 9-3 advantage after a Brenahan three at the 18:10 mark. An Olson trey at the 14:15 mark would extend Minnesota State's advantage to 16-6. A made three from Thielman and an old-fashioned three-point play from Moenkedick would quickly get the Golden Eagles back into the fray as they cut the lead to 16-12 with 12:12 remaining.

Led by an Olson three, the Mavericks would quickly get back out to a 21-14 advantage around the 11 minute mark. With yet another Olson three, her third of the half, Minnesota State would find themselves ahead 26-16 with 8:15 left in the half.

UMC would quickly rally with a couple quick lay-ins to cut it back to 29-22 with 7:05 remaining in the half. However, Minnesota State would quickly find themselves with the 11-point advantage (33-24) with six minutes left in the half using a Tyra Johnson lay-up and two free throws from Alli Hoefer.

A Hoefer jumper at the 4:50 mark would extend the Minnesota State lead even further to 13 (37-24). An Ali Wilkinson jumper would take extend the lead even further to 39-24 with just over three minutes left in the half. The Mavericks would get their advantage to 44-26 with 2:08 left in the half following a Sammi Delzotto three and a Wilkinson put-back.

A Livingston three at the 1:30 mark would help UMC back into the fray a bit making it 45-31. But the Mavericks would get their lead back as Erika McRoberts fouled Bresnahan on three giving the Minnesota State player three shots. Bresnahan would make two-of-three attempts to make it 47-31 with 50 seconds left in the half.

Moenkedick would put up a jumper in the lane and convert to cut it back to 14 points at the 38 second mark and Moenkedick would steal the ball and make a fastbreak lay-up as the clock expired to lead a late comeback for the Golden Eagles and make it 47-35.

Thielman would open up the half with a three, her third of the game, to get UMC back to within nine points (47-38) within the first 20 seconds of the second half. Minnesota State would quickly counter with two buckets of their own to get the lead back out to 13, but Thielman would drain her fourth three of the game to get the game back to within 10 (51-41) with just under 19 minutes left in the game.

After Minnesota State extended their lead to 12, Livingston would hit two free throws and Thielman would connect on a jumper to get the deficit down to eight points, 53-45. Aided by seven quick Wilkinson points, Minnesota State would find themselves back up 62-47 with 16 minutes left in the game. An Olson three would put a stamp on the run, which would be an 11-0 run, making it 67-47 with 15:17 left in the half.

A Moenkedick lay-up at the 13:10 mark would finally end the Maverick run, making it 67-49. The Mavericks would not let off though as they would find themselves ahead 82-51 with 9:38 left in the game. Minnesota State would out-score UMC 29-7 during the over seven minute stretch. The Mavericks would come away with the 106-63 win over the Golden Eagles.

UMC has a lot of optimism despite their season ending Wednesday. The Golden Eagles return all but one player from their roster, including a sophomore class which accounts for 66 percent of the team's offense. Moenkedick and Thielman will lead the charge moving into the future as both players improved from their freshman seasons and look poised for even bigger and better things moving into the future.


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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).