ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team, that lost so many close  games early on in the season, left very little doubt Friday night as they upended St. Cloud State University 91-68 at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn. The Golden Eagles avenged a five-point loss to the Huskies at Lysaker Gymnasium earlier this season. Minnesota Crookston moves their win-streak to three-games to open 2015 as they sit at 6-7 (5-4 NSIC). St. Cloud State falls to 9-4 (5-4 NSIC) with the loss.

The win over St. Cloud State is the first for UMC since Feb. 22, 2013, when they upended the Huskies 75-67.

The Golden Eagles were led by the junior duo of Katrina Moenkedick (F, Perham, Minn./Applied Studies) and Alexa Thielman (G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science), who combined for 42 points on the game. Thielman tallied her third-straight 20 point performance with 22 points on 7-of-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Thielman added five rebounds. Moenkedick finished with 20 points and six assists on the game.

In addition, Emily Gruber (Fr., F/C, Monticello, Minn./Undecided) added 13 points and eight boards, while Micaela Noga (Fr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn./Health Management) finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Ashley Martell (Sr., G, Somerset, Wis./Health Studies) was a spark plug off the bench with nine points on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

UMC was 31-of-58 for 53.4 percent from beyond the arc and 10-of-19 for 52.6 percent from beyond the arc. In addition, the Golden Eagles were 19-of-23 for 82.6 percent from the charity stripe.

St. Cloud State was led by 14 points from Lexy Petermann. Betsy MacDonald added 12 points and five assists, while Andrea Thomas also had 12 points. The Huskies were 24-of-64 for 37.5 percent from the field and 7-of-28 for 25 percent from beyond the three-point line.

The Golden Eagles opened the game on a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the game led by a Thielman trey. St. Cloud State would finally end the run, but the Golden Eagles would still control the early pace of the game, getting out to a 12-6 lead in the first five minutes.

St. Cloud State would make a comeback with UMC's starters on the bench and knot the game at 14-14 on a Chelsea Nooker trey with 11:30 remaining in the half.

But the Golden Eagle starters, quickly picked up where they left off as Gruber hit a long jumper and Noga picked up a steal and transition lay-in to get UMC up 19-14 with 11 minutes remaining in the half. UMC would extend their lead to 26-17 with under nine minutes remaing in the half.

The Huskies would make a run to cut the lead to 26-23 with eight minutes left, but a Moenkedick old-fashioned three-point  and a Ebony Livingston (Sr., G/F, Minneapolis, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) three-pointer would get the Golden Eagles back out to a 32-23 advantage with 6:51  remaining in the half.  

The Golden Eagles would extend their lead to 14 (46-32) as Martell drained a three off a Moenkedick assist with 1:30 left in the half. St. Cloud State would go on a 6-0 run going into the final possession, where Moenkedick was fouled going up for the shot. Moenkedick would make 1-of-2 shots as the Golden Eagles would go into the break with a 47-38 lead.

Moenkedick led the Golden Eagles in the first half with 14 points and five assists. Noga and Thielman each added eight points, while Martell came off the bench for six. Noga had four assists to go with her eight points. The Golden Eagles shot the ball extremely well in the first period, going 17-of-31 from the field for 54.8 percent and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc for 54.5 percent.

St. Cloud State was led by MacDonald's nine points in the first half. Karissa LeCaptain and Andrea Thomas each added six. The Huskies were 14-of-30 from the field for 46.7 percent and 4-of-15 for 26.7 percent from beyond the arc.

UMC would open the second half on a 16-2 run led by nine points from Thielman, who took control of the play to open the period. The Golden Eagles would lead 63-40 with 14 minutes remaining. St. Cloud State would end the run with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 63-48 with just under 13 minutes left in the game.

The Golden Eagles would fight off the charge of the Huskies and would take a 70-48 lead over St. Cloud State following a pair of Noga free throws with 10:26 left in the game.

St. Cloud State would have another charge, cutting UMC's lead to 72-58 with a 6-0 run following a Petermann jumper with 7:27 remaining. The Huskies would cut it to 13 (76-63) on a Petermann trey, but Thielman struck back with her fourth three of the game to make it 79-63 with 6:13 left in the game.

Minnesota Crookston would continue to control the game through the rest of the second half and would come away with a dominant 91-68 win. The Golden Eagles have beaten their opponents by an average of 18 points over the last three games.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
 
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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).