Box Score ABERDEEN, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team struggled to find the cylinder as they fell 75-50 to No. 14 Northern State University Sat., Dec. 9 at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
The Wolves fed the post for the majority of the night where 6-2 senior Miranda Ristau dominated with 27 points. The Golden Eagles had their opportunities late in the second quarter as Northern State did not hit a field goal in the final 6:42 of the frame. However, they would be unable to do enough damage as the Wolves outscored Minnesota Crookston 41-26 in the second half to come away with the victory.
Northern State improved to 8-1 (4-0 NSIC) with Saturday's win. Minnesota Crookston was unable to follow up a big upset of Minnesota State University Moorhead as they fell to 1-7 (1-3 NSIC) with the loss. The Wolves have claimed the last 10 games in the series.
Minnesota Crookston looked to 11 points and six boards from Micaela Noga (Sr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.), who was 4-of-12 from the field. Paige Weakley (So., G/F, Kearney, Mo.) came off the bench for her best game of the season with 10 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Abby Guidinger (Fr., G/F, Waukesha, Wis.) had a major impact off of the bench with a season-high nine points and five rebounds. Isieoma Odor (R-Jr., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) was contained by the Northern State posts. She finished with five points and four rebounds before fouling out.
The Golden Eagles shot 17-of-59 from the field for 28.8 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 7-of-31 for 22.6 percent from beyond the arc and 9-of-15 for 60.0 percent from the charity stripe.
Northern State finished the night 32-of-67 for 47.8 percent. The Wolves shot just four long balls and hit two of them for 50.0 percent. Northern State shot just 9-of-17 from the foul line for 52.9 percent.
The Wolves looked to 29 points from Ristau on 12-of-27 from the field. Ristau added five boards. Jill Conrad notched 10 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Alexis Tappe chipped in nine points and five rebounds. Brianna Kusler led the team with seven rebounds, while Jessi Marti added six points and six rebounds.
Northern State won the rebounding battle 51-33, including 11 offensive boards. The Wolves forced 14 turnovers for Minnesota Crookston.
The Golden Eagles and Wolves traded baskets in the early going before Northern State pushed out to an 9-4 advantage with three free throws from Ristau and a bucket from Conrad. The Wolves extended their lead to 11-4 on a Conrad bucket as they built their run to 7-0. Noga stopped the early run with a jumper at the 6:04 mark to cut the Northern State lead to 11-6.
Northern State responded with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 21-8 paced by eight points from Ristau. A Weakley trey brought the Golden Eagles back within 21-11 with 1:12 left in the first quarter. The Wolves went into the quarter break with a 27-13 advantage.
Northern State looked to 13 points from Ristau in the first half, while Conrad added six. The Wolves shot 12-of-20 for 60.0 percent from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 5-of-14 from the field for 35.7 percent. The Golden Eagles looked to four points from Noga, while Weakley added three points.
The Wolves built their lead to 33-17 early in the second quarter following a Haley Froelich jumper. Minnesota Crookston responded with a trey from Lindsey Weber (Jr., G/F, Delafield, Wis.) to pull within 33-20 with 5:53 remaining in the quarter. The Golden Eagles used a jumper from Noga and a pair of free throws from Guidinger to finish the half on a 7-1 run. They would cut the deficit to 34-24 going into the break. Northern State would not hit a field goal for the last 6:42 of the second quarter.
The Golden Eagles looked to six points from Noga and Guidinger. Guidinger and Gruber led the squad with four first-half rebounds. Minnesota Crookston shot 9-of-29 for the field for 31.0 percent. The Golden Eagles were just 2-of-13 for 15.4 percent and 4-of-7 for 57.1 percent from the charity stripe.
Northern State looked to Ristau with 16 points on 6-of-13 from the field. Conrad added six, while Tappe also added six points. Conrad led the team with three rebounds, while Brianna Kusler led the team with five rebounds.
The Wolves were 15-of-33 for 45.5 percent from the field. They were 0-of-2 from beyond the arc. Northern State opened the door with their poor free throw shooting as they were just 4-of-10 at the foul line for 40.0 percent in the first half. The Wolves had the rebounding edge 26-17 in the first half.
The Wolves opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets from Ristau to move the lead to 38-24. Minnesota Crookston stopped the early run with a trey from Michaelis to pull back within 38-27. The Golden Eagles brought the game within single-digits at 40-32 as Odor nailed a three-pointer at the top of the key. Northern State pushed the lead back out to 10 at 42-32 with a pair of free throws from Marti. Marti's free throws started a 10-3 run to end the quarter for the Wolves as they went into the quarter timeout up 50-35.
Northern State built on their momentum as they opened the fourth quarter with Ristau's 25th point of the game to move the lead to 52-35. Gabby Laimer followed that up with a triple to extend the advantage to 55-35. Ashley Freund ceased the early 5-0 run with a trey to cut the lead to 55-38. However, the Wolves finished held strong as they finished the game out-scoring the Golden Eagles 20-15 down the stretch to pick up the 75-50 victory.
Minnesota Crookston will return to action Sat., Dec. 16 against Bemidji State University at 1 p.m. at BSU Gymnasium in Bemidji, Minn.
