With their win, the Golden Bears improve to 15-7 (11-5 NSIC). The Golden Eagles fall to 6-14 (6-10 NSIC). Minnesota Crookston drops the weekend but they remain in the hunt to be in the top four in the NSIC North. The Golden Eagles are now tied for fifth with University of Mary. They are one game back of St. Cloud State University in fourth place. Minnesota Crookston has six games remaining in the NSIC season to secure a top four placing in order to host the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament at Lysaker Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles shot 50.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three point range. Minnesota Crookston added 16 points from the line.
Alison Hughes (So., G, Janesville, Wis.) had a huge night for the Golden Eagles contributing 30 points and three steals. The 30 points were a career-high for Hughes as she fell just four points short of tying the school record. She went 7-for-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Isieoma Odor (R-So., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) finished 9-of-15 from the field giving her 18 points. She also picked up four assists and seven rebounds.
Emily Gruber (Jr., F/C, Monticello, Minn.) had 14 points, six rebounds and a block for the Golden Eagles as well.
The Golden Bears were led by Anna Schmitt who had 32 points, five rebounds and four assists. Schmitt went 12 of 18 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range. Caitlyn Russel had 23 points and six rebounds on the night. Mishayla Jones finished with 14 points and eight assists. CSP went 24-of-72 from field and 9-of-24 from the three-point line.
The Golden Eagles committed 16 turnovers that led to 24 points for the Golden Bears. The Golden Eagles picked up 12 points off of eight turnovers by the Golden Bears.
Odor opened up the scoring for the Golden Eagles and started a 10-0 run. Hughes and
Micaela Noga (Jr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) each contributed three pointers and Gruber had a layup. A layup momentarily stopped the Golden Eagles, but Hughes quickly hit another three. A layup by Gruber gave UMC an 11-point lead before back-to-back layups for the Golden Bears by Kayla Miller and Schmitt. Hanna Vidlund's three put the score at 16-11 in favor of the Golden Eagles. After a couple of layups from the Golden Eagles, Schmitt hit back-to-back threes to pull her team ahead by one. CSP took a 21-20 lead into the second quarter.
A layup by Russell started the second quarter and kept the Golden Bears run alive bringing it to 8-0. Odor stopped the run with a jumper, but CSP responded with four more points. Hughes went 2-for-2 from the line and hit a three to tie the game at 27-27. The Golden Bears responded with a 6-0 run. A three by Hughes got the Golden Eagles within one. Haydn Becker's three extended CSP's lead to 38-34. Schmitt hit a three at the buzzer to help the Golden Bears tale a 41-36 lead into half.
Concordia-St. Paul picked up the first four points of the second half before back-to-back jumpers by Odor and Noga started an 18-6 run for the Golden Eagles. The run included threes from Hughes and
Caitlin Michaelis (So., G, Marshfield, Wis.). Odor had two layups during the run and Michaelis had one. Michaelis' three put the Golden Eagles on top 54-51. The Golden Bears eventually tied it up at 58 with a jumper by Schmitt before a Layup by Russell put them back on top by two. Hughes hit a three and assisted on Gruber's last second layup to help the Golden Eagles take a 63-62 into the fourth quarter.
After a layup by Schmitt put the Golden Bears on top,
Stephanie McWilliams (Fr., G, Grand Forks, N.D.) hit a three to quickly take back the lead. McWilliams padded UMC's lead with a layup. Schmitt hit a three and Russell hit a layup to bring the score to 69-68 in favor of Concordia-St. Paul. CSP went on a 15-2 run that lasted a little over three minutes before the Golden Eagles were able to pick up five straight points off of a jumper by Odor and a three by Michaelis to cut the Golden Bears lead to four. A layup by Russell and a three by Vidlund quickly brought the Golden Bears lead back to nine with a score of 84-75. Free throws had a big impact on the final minute and half. UMC went 5-for-6. CSP hit 6-of-10. The Golden Bears ended up hanging on for a 90-84.
Saturday was Alumni Day for the UMC women's basketball program. The Golden Eagles welcomed back 14 alumni on the day.
The Golden Eagles look to get back on track as they travel to Augustana University on Fri., Feb. 3 and Wayne State College on Sat., Feb. 4.
