DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team battled down the stretch but fell 72-67 to University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday evening at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn. The Golden Eagles fall to 6-8 (5-5 NSIC), while Minnesota Duluth improves to 7-7 (5-5 NSIC) with the victory. UMD sweeps the season series against the Golden Eagles, the loss snaps a three-game winning streak for Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles were led by Alexa Thielman (Jr., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science), who tallied 20 or more points for the fourth-straight game with 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Thielman added six boards. Katrina Moenkedick (Jr., F, Perham, Minn./Applied Studies) tallied 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 23-of-53 from the field for 43.4 percent and 6-of-14 from three-point range for 42.9 percent. UMC out-rebounded the Bulldogs 40-39 led by eight rebounds off the bench from Megan Taylor (So., F/C, Estelline, S.D./Animal Science), who played significant minutes due to early foul trouble.

Minnesota Duluth was paced by 20 points and six boards from Jessica Newman. Danielle Flood added 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field and tallied seven boards. Taylor Meyer added 15 points and seven boards, while Allyson Harris came off the bench for 13 points. The Bulldogs were 24-of-64 from the field for 37.5 percent and 8-of-26 for 30.8 percent from beyond the arc.

UMD would take an early  10-7 lead but an Ashley Martell (Sr., G, Somerset, Wis./Health Science) trey would knot things up 10-10 with 13:50 left in the first half. An Allyson Harris jumper would give the Bulldogs the lead, but a pair of Moenkedick free throws would again tie the game 12-12 with 11:56 left in the first half, but a three from Newman would give UMC the 15-12 lead with 11:19 left. However, Noga would again tie things up with a three of her own, making it 15-15 with 10:50 left. UMD would take the lead back with a jumper from Anna Monke, 17-15.

UMC would tie it up again at 17's before the Bulldogs would get out to a five-point lead led by a Taylor
Dillinger trey with 8:20 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles would keep on battling and would knot it up at 31-31 as Taylor got a steal and Thielman found Martell for a transtion laypin with three minutes left.

However, UMD responded with a three from Newman to take a 34-31 lead with 2:40 remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs would go into the break with a 35-32 advantage on the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston was paced by 12 points from Thielman, who was 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Noga added seven points and six rebounds, while Martell and Moenkedick each had five. The Golden Eagles were without two starters most of the first half. Taylor played  17 minutes in the post and had three points and five boards, a block and a steal in the first half. The Golden Eagles out-rebounded UMD 21-20 with their starting post on the bench.

Minnesota Duluth was 13-of-33 from the field in the first half for 39.4 percent and 5-of-17 for 29.4 percent from beyond the arc. Newman led the way with 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while Meyer added 11 points.

UMD would open up the second half with a Flood three to get out to a six-point lead 38-32. UMC would then find themselves down 44-37 with 18:04 left in the game, but a Moenkedick make and a Thielman lay-in would get UMC within three at 44-41 with 16 minutes left in the game. UMC would knot up the game after Taylor went 1-of-2 from the line and Moenkedick made a lay-up to make it 44-44 with 13:25 left in the game.

Harris would answer with back-to-back baskets to put UMD ahead 48-44 with 12:15 left in the game. The Golden Eagles would claw and fight and  would seize the lead as Christine Thorn (Jr., G, St. Michael, Minn./Elementary Education) nailed a three to make it 50-48 with 10:50 left in the game. A lay-up from Flood would again knot things up at 50's with 10:34 left.

UMD would take the lead back on a Flood three to make it 55-54 with 9:10 left in the game and would extend their lead to three (59-54) with a Newman jumper and Flood jumper.

UMC would again find their way back with two Moenkedick free throws to cut the lead to 62-61. UMD's
Meyer would tally two free throws of her own to make it 64-61 with 5:12 left in the game. A jumper from Noga and a steal and lay-in from Moenkedick would give the Golden Eagles the lead back at 65-64 with 4:40 left in the game. A jumper from Newman would give UMD the lead back with four minutes left in the game. A pair of free throws for Alyssa Kerkhoff would extend the Bulldog advantage to 68-65.

But the Golden Eagles wouldn't back down as Emily Gruber (Fr., F/C, Monticello, Minn./Undecided) got a pass from Thorn and layed it in to cut it one point with 1:10 remaining in the game. After a Thorn foul, Newman would go to the line and miss the 1-and-1, giving the ball back to UMC. Gruber would turn the ball over in the post, forcing the Golden Eagles to foul with 25.1 seconds left. Flood would make both to give UMD the 70-67 lead with 25.1 seconds left. UMC would have a chance to tie but wouldn't be able to, as the Bulldogs would hang on to win the game 72-67.

UMC will return home to host Concordia University, St. Paul and Minnesota State University, Mankato next weekend.

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).