MOORHEAD, Minn. – A combined 10 minutes of scoreless basketball for the University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team would lead to 65-55 loss to No. 16 Minnesota State University Moorhead. The Golden Eagles led by as many as six in the first quarter, but a five-minute stretch to open the second quarter and a five-minute stretch at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter would lead to UMC's demise on the day.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-18 (6-14 NSIC) with the loss. The Golden Eagles are in sixth place in the NSIC standings. They are two games back and currently own the tie-breaker over University of Mary, who is currently in sixth place. If UMC defeats Minot State University on Friday and U-Mary loses to Bemidji State University, Saturday could decide who will be the fifth seed in the NSIC North. The Golden Eagles will be no lower than the sixth seed in the NSIC North.

MSU Moorhead improves to 21-13 (18-2 NSIC). The Dragons had already clinched the NSIC North title Friday, but they captured the outright NSIC title with Saturday's win. They will be the No. 1 seed in the North division.

Minnesota Crookston shot 22-of-65 from the field for 33.8 percent. They were 8-of-26 from beyond the arc for 30.8 percent. UMC had just four attempts from the charity stripe, they hit three of them.

The Golden Eagles looked to Alison Hughes (So., G, Janesville, Wis.) with 16 points and five boards. Hughes was 5-of-15 from the field and 4-of-11 from beyond the arc. Stephanie McWilliams (Fr., G, Grand Forks, N.D.), a defensive ace for UMC, put up her best offensive performance of the season with 15 points on 6-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. She added five boards. Isieoma Odor (R-So., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) would chip in 10 points. Micaela Noga (Jr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) did her part to chip in any way she could as she had seven points, eight boards and five assists.

MSU Moorhead shot 24-of-55 from the field for 43.6 percent. They were 5-of-18 from beyond the arc for 27.8 percent and 12-of-16 from the charity stripe for 75.0 percent.

The Dragons looked to 21 points from Cassidy Thorson on 7-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Drew Sannes added a double-double of 11 points and 15 boards. Shannon Galegher would come off of the bench for nine points. Jacky Volkert also had nine. MSU Moorhead won the rebound battle 41-34.

A bucket from Odor with 9:19 left in the first quarter would get the scoring started on the evening. The Dragons would knot it up 2-2 as Sannes got the Dragons on the board. Both teams would struggle to find the hoop in the early going as they were a combined 2-of-10 from the field in the first four minutes of play.

Noga would get UMC going with a three-pointer to break the tie and tip the scales in their favor 5-2 head into the first media timeout. A Hughes triple would continue the run for UMC as they went ahead 8-2. The Dragons would break a four minute scoreless streak with a basket from Jessica Hart with 4:25 left in the first quarter.  They would pull within one point of the Golden Eagles with a three-pointer from Thorson cutting the UMC lead to 8-7. The Dragons would make it a 7-0 run culminating with a layup from Megan Hintz to take the 9-8 lead.

Hughes would stop the run with a big three-pointer to put the Golden Eagles back up 11-9. Odor would then get a big steal on the defensive end, leading to a Noga layup on the other end to put Minnesota Crookston up 13-9. Galegher would stop the run as MSU Moorhead cut the lead to 13-11 with one minute left in the opening quarter. Sannes would hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe going into the break as the Dragons cut the lead to 13-12.

MSU Moorhead would open up the second quarter with a bucket from Galegher to take the lead 14-13. Back-to-back buckets from Sannes would extend the advantage to 18-13 in favor of the Dragons. MSU Moorhead would extend their run to 11-0 as they made it 20-13 on a Hintz put-back.

Minnesota Crookston would finally stop the run and get their first bucket of the second quarter on a Hughes three-pointer with 4:41 left in the frame. MSU Moorhead countered with another 4-0 run to extend the lead to 24-16. Gruber would snap the quick Dragon run with a bucket to cut the lead to 24-18. After a defensive stop, Hughes would connect on a pair from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 24-20. UMC would continue a 5-0 run as Stephanie McWilliams hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe as the Golden Eagles pulled within 24-21 with under two minutes left in the second quarter.

The Dragons would stop the short Golden Eagle run with a Galegher hoop to extend the lead to 26-21. However, McWilliams responded with a jumper to pull Minnesota Crookston back within 26-23 with under a minute left in the frame. MSU Moorhead would close out the first half with a pair of free throws from Volkert to push the lead out to 28-23 going into the locker room.

Minnesota Crookston would go 8-of-28 from the field for 28.6 percent in the first half. They were 4-of-14 from beyond the arc for 28.6 percent and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe Hughes led the way with 11 points on 3-of-8 from the field, while Noga chipped in five points and four boards.

MSU Moorhead took the rebounding battle in the opening period 21-15. The Dragons were 12-of-27 from the field for 44.4 percent. They had a big second quarter as they were 7-of-13 for 53.8 percent. MSU Moorhead was just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Sannes led the way with seven, while Galegher and Hintz came off the bench for six points.

Odor would open up the third quarter with back-to-back buckets to pull the Golden Eagles within one (28-27) to open the period. The Dragons would find their first bucket of the third quarter with 7:10 left in the third as Thorson converted the layup. MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 32-29, but UMC responded with a triple from McWilliams from the top of the key to knot it up 32-32. MSU Moorhead would take the lead and extend it back out to 37-32 on a Thorson three-pointer.

UMC would be able to cut into the advantage on a Lindsey Weber triple to down-size the advantage to 37-35. However, Thorson responded with another three-pointer to push it back out to 40-35.  MSU Moorhead would extend their lead out to seven, but McWilliams came up with a clutch shot to pull the Golden Eagles back within five at 42-37. The Dragons would go into the quarter break up 46-37 after a Thorson triple as time expired.

The Dragons would open the fourth quarter with a jumper from Galegher to push the lead out to 48-37. MSU Moorhead would be able to extend their advantage out to 51-37 with free throw. Minnesota Crookston would finally snap a five-minute scoring drought as Odor put in the layup to cut the lead to 51-39. 

Hughes would hit a jumper and McWilliams would have a put-back to pull the Golden Eagles back within 53-43. The Golden Eagles would continue their run as Michaelis would find Odor to cut the lead to 53-45 with four minutes remaining.

Volkert would get an important bucket for MSU Moorhead to stop the run for the Golden Eagles and extend the lead out to 55-45. McWilliams would hit a triple to pull the Golden Eagles within 55-47 with 2:30 left in the game. MSU Moorhead would extend the lead out to 61-49. However, UMC would not give in as McWilliams tallied her 15^th point of the game to pull UMC within 61-52. After a pair of Dragon free throws, Hughes would hit a three-pointer would pull the Golden Eagles within 63-55.

However, free throws from Thorson would extend the lead to 65-55 with 27.7 seconds remaining and would put the game out of reach for the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston will wrap-up the regular-season at home as they take on Minot State University Fri., Feb. 17 and University of Mary Sat., Feb. 18 at Lysaker Gymnasium.