MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team overcame a third quarter comeback by Minnesota State University Moorhead to win 69-65 at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn. The Golden Eagles led 40-31 at the break, but the Dragons used a 23-11 run to go into the final quarter with a three-point advantage. However, Minnesota Crookston responded with clutch defense and big plays on the other end to come back and take down last year's NSIC Champion.
The win over the Dragons is the fourth in the last eight tries for the Golden Eagles over their NSIC North rival. The victory is the first for Minnesota Crookston on the road at Nemzek Fieldhouse since Dec. 10, 2011. Minnesota Crookston picks up their first win of the year to move to 1-6 (1-2 NSIC). The Dragons drop to 5-2 (2-1 NSIC) with Friday's loss.
Minnesota Crookston looked to four players in double-figures to lead the way. Isieoma Odor (R-Jr., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-14 from the field. Micaela Noga finished with 18 points and five rebounds on 6-of-11 from the field. Noga was crucial down the stretch as she had 13 second-half points. Caitlin Michaelis (Jr., G, Marshfield, Wis.) got everything going with her five assists. She added 12 points on 5-of-11 from the field, while Emily Gruber (Sr., F/C, Monticello, Minn.) finished with a near double-double of 12 points and nine boards, including three triples.
The Golden Eagles shot 24-of-56 from the field for 42.9 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 7-of-22 on the game from beyond the arc for 31.8 percent. They also came through in the clutch on the charity stripe where they were 14-of-17 for 82.4 percent. Minnesota Crookston had 11 assists to just eight turnovers on the evening.
Defensively, Minnesota Crookston looked to four steals from Noga, along with three blocks from Gruber and two from Odor.
MSU Moorhead looked to a pair of double-doubles on the night from Jacky Volkert and Drew Sannes. Volkert was close to a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Sannes added 13 point and 12 rebounds on 6-of-18 from the field. Cassidy Thorn added nine points and five rebounds, while Megan Hintz had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Dragons were limited by the Minnesota Crookston defense to 28-of-68 for 41.2 percent. MSU Moorhead was just 5-of-19 from beyond the arc for 26.3 percent and 4-of-8 from the foul line for 50 percent. The Dragons had 15 turnovers on the game. MSU Moorhead won the rebounding edge 47-29.
The Golden Eagles got out to an early 7-4 lead on the Dragons following an old-fashioned three-point play from Michaelis. A quick 4-0 run using a jumper from Lauren Fech and a Volkert lay-in put the Dragons on top 8-7. Gruber brought Minnesota Crookston right back with a triple to give the Golden Eagles a 10-8 advantage with under six minutes left in the first quarter. Volkert knotted the game up 10-10 with 4:34 left in the quarter. The Golden Eagles took the lead back shortly after the media timeout as Gruber knocked down 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it 11-10. MSU Moorhead shot themselves back into the lead with a Kiley Borowicz three-pointer to make it 13-10. However, Lindsey Weber (Jr., G/F, Delafield, Wis.) came right back on the other end to tilt the score in favor of the Golden Eagles 14-13 as she nailed a trey. The Golden Eagles moved their lead to 17-13 as Gruber hit a three-pointer with two minutes left in the quarter. Minnesota Crookston would lead 21-17 over the Dragons at the quarter break.
The Golden Eagles looked to seven points from Gruber in the first quarter. Minnesota Crookston shot 7-of-16 from the field for 43.8 percent and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for 42.9 percent. Michaelis added five points, while Odor had four.
Michaelis found Odor in the post early in the second quarter for a bucket to put the Golden Eagles up 23-17. Stephanie McWilliams (So., G, Grand Forks, N.D.) hit a pair of free throws to extend the Minnesota Crookston lead to 25-17. MSU Moorhead ended a scoreless first three minutes of the second quarter with a basket from Sannes to cut the deficit to 25-19. The Dragons picked up a basket from Volkert to pull within 25-21 with 6:37 remaining. However, Noga stopped the quick 4-0 run with a three-pointer to put Minnesota Crookston back up 28-21. The Dragons pulled within 30-27 on a Volkert layup with under four minutes left. Minnesota Crookston again held off the charge as Gruber came through with her third 3-pointer of the first half to make it 33-27. Minnesota Crookston used a three from Michaelis and a basket from Odor to move into their largest lead of the first half with a 38-29 advantage with 1:27 remaining in the half. Michaelis found Odor to extend their largest lead to 11 at 40-29 with less than a minute left in the frame. The Golden Eagles went into the break with a 40-31 lead on the Dragons.
Minnesota Crookston was 6-of-12 for 50.0 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half. The Golden Eagles shot 14-of-30 overall from the field for 46.7 percent and were 6-of-7 for 85.7 percent from the charity stripe. Minnesota Crookston was led by Odor with 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field. Gruber added 10 points, including going 3-of-6 from behind the three-point line. Michaelis chipped in eight points and five assists.
MSU Moorhead looked to 10 points from Volkert. Sannes added eight points and seven boards, but was just 4-of-11 from the field. The Dragons shot 15-of-35 for 42.9 percent from the field and were just 1-of-8 for 12.5 percent from behind the three-point line.
The Dragons opened up the second half with three-pointers from Sannes and Cassidy Thorson to cut the lead to 40-37. A jumper from Fech brought MSU Moorhead within 40-39 with under eight minutes left in the third quarter. Minnesota Crookston scored their first points of the third quarter as Noga hit a crucial trey with 7:42 remaining in the frame to make it 43-39. A Megan Hintz put-back for the Dragons brought them back within 43-41. Odor moved the lead to 45-41 with two free throw shots before Thorson pulled the Dragons back within 45-44 with just over five minutes left in the quarter. MSU Moorhead took the 48-45 advantage as they took their first lead since the first quarter on back-to-back Hintz baskets. Minnesota Crookston stopped the run with a pair of Noga free throws with 1:58 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 48-47. A pair of Borowicz free throws would extend the MSU Moorhead lead to 50-47 with 1:42 left in the quarter. The Golden Eagles would pull within 52-51 late in the quarter on an Odor bucket. However, MSU Moorhead responded with a Volkert basket to take the 54-51 lead going into the quarter break.
The Dragons outscored the Golden Eagles 23-11 in the third quarter led by six points apiece from Hintz and Thorson.
MSU Moorhead used a bucket from Hintz to extend their lead to 56-51 early in the fourth quarter. Minnesota Crookston responded using a basket from Odor to cut it to 56-53. Thorson came right back with a triple to extend the lead to 59-53 with over seven minutes remaining in the game. Michaelis drove to the bucket to bring the Golden Eagles back within 59-55. After a defensive stop, Noga got the rebound and drove the court for a transition bucket to bring Minnesota Crookston within two at 59-57. Minnesota Crookston came up with another crucial defensive stop, which led to an Odor basket in the post to knot it up 59-59 with 4:32 remaining. The Golden Eagles built on their 8-0 run as Noga got the steal and took it the length of the court with a circus shot at the rim to put Minnesota Crookston ahead 61-59. The Dragons would knot the game up 61-61 as Gruber fouled Shannon Galegher on a three-point shot. She would hit 2-of-3 at the line. Both teams would trade shots before Minnesota Crookston used a jumper from Michaelis to take the lead 65-63 with 2:09 left in the game. Fech would respond with a jumper on the other end to knot it up 65-65 with a minute remaining. Odor hit 1-of-2 at the line to put the Golden Eagles in the lead 66-65 with 44 seconds remaining. A crucial jump ball won by McWilliams with 14.7 seconds remaining would give the Golden Eagles the ball back. Minnesota Crookston used free throws from Noga and McWilliams to ice the Dragons and give the Golden Eagles the 69-65 win.
Minnesota Crookston will return to action Sat., Dec. 9 as they take on No. 14 Northern State University at 4 p.m. at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
