MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team would fall in a hard-fought 68-63 loss to Minnesota State University Moorhead Friday night at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn. The Golden Eagles would go toe-to-toe with the Dragons in a battle for lone possession of second place in the NSIC North but four MSU Moorhead players would score in double-figures as the Golden Eagles fell and the Dragons claimed the win.

The Golden Eagles fall to 8-9 (7-6 NSIC), while MSU Moorhead improves to 9-8 (8-5 NSIC) with Friday's victory.

UMC was led by 15 points from freshman point guard Micaela Noga (G, Parkers Prairie, Minn./Health Management), who put together one of her best games of her young career. Noga was 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and added five boards on the game. Ashley Martell (Sr., G, Somerset, Wis/Health Science) came off the bench for 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, while Katrina Moenkedick (Jr., F, Perham, Minn./Applied Studies) added a near double-double of 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Golden Eagles were 25-of-64 for 39.1 percent for the game but had a strong second half, shooting 15-of-31 for 48.4 percent and 5-of-10 for 50 percent from beyond the arc. UMC was 6-of-23 for 26.1 percent from three for the game and struggled from the line at the tune of just 7-of-12 for 58.3 percent.

The Dragons were led by 17 points from Meghan Roehrich on 5-of-12 shooting. Morgan Banasik added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Savanna Handevidt had a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards and Natalie Van Wyhe had 11 points. MSU Moorhead was 24-of-58 for 41.4 percent from the field and 7-of-21 for 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.

UMC 2-of-14 to open game as they found themselves down 7-4 to MSU Moorhead at the first media timeout of the first half.  The Golden Eagles would get going beginning with a Martell jumper with 12:45 left in the first half after falling behind 9-4. UMC would follow that up with a pair of Gruber foul shots, quickly cutting the deficit to 9-8 with 12:12 left in the opening half. Emily Gruber (Fr., F/C, Monticello, Minn.) would hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Golden Eagles a tie and a 5-0 run and make the game 9-9 with 11:24 left in the first half. MSU Moorhead would squash the run with two Banasik free throws.

The Golden Eagles and Dragons would trade baskets over the next 10 minutes with neither team giving up much ground, but back-to-back threes from Van Wyhe and Banasik would give MSU Moorhead the 28-24 advantage with 1:19 remaining in the half.  A Cassidy Thorson mid-range jumper would extend the Dragon lead to 30-24, which would be the lead MSU Moorhead would go into the break with.

UMC was led in the first half by eight points from Moenkedick, while Martell added four off the bench. The Golden Eagles struggled overall from the field, shooting 10-of-33 for 30.3 percent and just 1-of-13 for 7.7 percent from beyond the arc.

MSU Moorhead looked to eight points from Van Wyhe and Handevidt. Roehrich added seven for the Dragons. MSU Moorhead was 11-of-28 from the field for 39.3 percent and 4-of-10 for 40.0 percent from beyond the arc.

The Dragons would extend their lead to 11 points at 37-26 early in the second half. UMC would begin cutting into the lead as Gruber hit a jumper and Moenkedick made a lay-up to make it 37-30 with 17 minutes left. An Ebony Livingston (Sr., G/F, Minneapolis, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) put-back off a miss, would get the Golden Eagles to within five at 37-32 with 16:30 left in the game. The Golden Eagles would take the lead on a Martell three with 14:30 left in the half to make it 41-39 to cap a 15-2 run for UMC. UMC would shoot 80 percent during the opening part of the half to help get back into the game.

Mallie Doucette would stop the Golden Eagle run and give the Dragons the lead back with a three to make it 42-41 with 13:13 left in the game. UMC would knot the game back up on a Thielman free throw to make it 42-42.

A flagrant one foul given to Handevidt for an elbow would put Livingston on the line where she hit the two foul shots to make it 46-44. 

UMC and MSU Moorhead would trade the buckets over the next several minutes with neither team giving up much ground. The Dragons would get out to a four-point advantage (56-52) on jumpers from Heather Strese and Roehrich with five minutes left. But the Golden Eagles wouldn't go away as Noga put in an old-fashioned three-point play to get within one point (56-55) with 4:24 left in the game.

The Dragons would get their lead back out to 60-57 on two Banasik free throws with 3:04 left in the game. MSU Moorhead would look to ice the game with a Roehrich three with 1:20 left in the game. A Noga trey would cut the lead to 63-60 with 25.2 seconds remaining in the game. Roehrich would make 1-of-2 to make it 64-60 and UMC would miss as MSU Moorhead would hang on with a 68-63 win over the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles will have another tough road test Sat., Jan. 24 as they take on No. 15 Northern State University at 6 p.m. in Aberdeen, 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).