MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minnesota State University Moorhead closed out the game on a 6-0 run as they defeated the University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team 75-69. The Golden Eagles fall to 17-9 (14-8 NSIC) with the loss and finish in third in the NSIC North as they put forth their best regular-season in school history to earn their second-ever NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament home playoff game, which they will play Wed., Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. against Minnesota State University-Mankato.

MSU Moorhead finishes the season with a 20-5 (17-5 NSIC) mark. The Dragons won a share of the NSIC North title along with Northern State University. They will be the No. 2 seed in the NSIC North for the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.
Minnesota Crookston looked to 18 points on 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc from Alexa Thielman (Sr., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science). Katrina Nordick (Sr., F, Perham, Minn.) had 16 points on 6-of-14 from the field. Nordick became the third player in school history to score 1,500 or more points, joining Jamie Zelinsky and Karna Plaine. She also set the career rebound mark at UMC, surpassing former teammate Laurie Tyson.

Emily Gruber (So., F/C, Monticello, Minn./Communication) added 14 points, including going 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.


UMC was 25-of-63 from the field for 39.7 percent and 9-of-35 for 36 percent from beyond the arc.

MSU Moorhead was led by 20 points from Morgan Banasik on 6-of-11 from the field. Savanna Handevidt added 17, as did Drew Sannes. The Dragons were 28-of-66 for 42.4 percent from the field and 6-of-16 for 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.

The Golden Eagles got out to an early 13-7 lead on the Dragons led by a three from Gruber. UMC had six different players score in the first seven minutes. The Golden Eagles would extend their lead to 15-7 on an Odor put-back.

The Dragons would cut into the lead with back-to-back Handevidt lay-ups to end the first quarter to cut the Golden Eagle advantage to 15-11.

Handevidt would get her third-straight bucket to cut the lead to 15-13 early in the second quarter. The Dragons would be able to knot it up at 15-15 on a Sannes jumper with 8:05 left in the second frame. Handevidt would continue her strong play during the stretch by converting an old-fashioned three-point play to give MSU Moorhead the 18-15 advantage and continue an 11-2 run for the Dragons. Sannes would then hit another jumper to build the run to 13-2 and make it 20-15 in advantage of MSU Moorhead.

Minnesota Crookston would stop the run as Thielman drained a three from the wing to cut the Dragon advantage to 20-18. The Dragons would take a 22-18 lead on a Jacky Volkert jumper, but a pair of free throws from Nordick would cut the lead to 22-20. However, Cassidy Thorson would respond with a three to put the Dragons up 25-20 with under five minutes left in the second. A Banasik three would extend the Dragon lead to 28-20.

UMC would stop MSU Moorhead's 6-0 run as Thielman drained a long trey to cut the lead to 28-23. After an offensive foul from the Dragons, Micaela Noga (So., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn./Health Management) would hit a pair from the charity stripe to cut the MSU Moorhead advantage to 28-25. The Golden Eagles would get within two on a Gruber three to make it 30-28 and following a UMC steal Gruber would sink another three to give UMC the 31-30 lead.

Heather Strese would get the lead back for the Dragons with 1:20 left in the half to make it 32-31. MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 34-31 on a jumper from Shannon Galegher. That would be the score at the half.

The Golden Eagles were led by nine points from Gruber, who was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Thielman added eight points on 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Minnesota Crookston was 11-of-34 from the field for 32.4 percent and 5-of-18 for 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.

MSU Moorhead was led by 13 points and six rebounds in the first half by Handevidt. The Dragons were 15-of-35 for 42.9 percent from the field and 3-of-7 for 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.

The Golden Eagles would be able to cut the Dragon lead early to 38-37 on a Nordick bucket. However, Thorson would respond with a three for MSU Moorhead to put the Dragons up 41-37. The Golden Eagles would cut the lead to 41-39 on an Odor jumper with five minutes left in third quarter.

MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 46-41 on a Banasik three with 2:30 left in the third quarter. The Dragons would extend their lead to 50-43 on a pair of Banasik free throws. UMC would cut the lead back down to 50-45 as Nordick drove the lane and got the bucket. However, Sannes would come up with the clutch three for the Dragons to extend their lead to 53-45, which would be the MSU Moorhead lead going into the fourth.

The Golden Eagles would open up the fourth with a big three from Thielman to cut the Dragon lead to 53-48. After a Gruber block, Noga would come up with an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the MSU Moorhead lead to 55-53 with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter. The Dragons would combat the UMC run with a pair of Banasik free throws to go up 57-53. However, Thielman would again come up with the clutch shot for the Golden Eagles to get UMC within one at 57-56 with 6:25 left in the game.

MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 58-56 as Banasik hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. The Dragons would extend their lead to 61-56 as Volkert converted the old-fashioned three-point play with 4:15 left in the game.

However UMC would not go away as Gruber came through with the big three to cut the lead to 61-59 with 3:45 left. After a defensive stop, Thielman would drive the lane and find her fellow senior Nordick, who would hit the bucket to knot up the game 61-61.

Banasik would come through on the other end for the Dragons to put MSU Moorhead up 63-61 with 3:11 left in the game. Nordick would hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line to get UMC within 63-62 with three minutes left in the contest. Handevidt would score and then a Natalie Van Wyhe steal would lead to a Banasik jumper for a quick four-point swing to put the Dragons up 67-62. But UMC would not go away as Nordick nailed three to the cut the lead to 67-65 with 2:15 left in the game.

A Thielman steal and lay-up would knot it up 67-67 with 1:45 remaining. After a defensive stop, Noga would drive the lane and get fouled, where she would hit a pair from the charity stripe to put UMC up 69-67 with 1:10 left. Sannes would respond with a jumper to tie it up 69-69 with a minute remaining.

Tied up, UMC would throw it long and Thorson would get the bucket to put the Dragons up 71-69 with 30 seconds remaining. After a Dragon steal, Banasik would hit 1-of-2 to put MSU Moorhead up 72-69 with 24.1 seconds left.
After a Hughes miss, Sannes would hit both to put MSU Moorhead up 74-69. The Dragons would come away with the 75-69 win.

The Golden Eagles will continue their season in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Wed., Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium against Minnesota State University-Mankato.

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 a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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