ST. PAUL, Minn. – Micaela Noga (Jr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) sank a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to complete a fourth quarter comeback with a 77-73 win over Concordia University-St. Paul Wed., Feb. 22 in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The Golden Eagles were down 59-49 at the quarter break after the Golden Bears outscored UMC 23-5 in the second half. Minnesota Crookston would come up big in the fourth quarter as they upended Concordia-St. Paul 28-14 in the frame in order to advance to their third-consecutive NSIC/Sanford Health Quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Minnesota Crookston moves to 8-19 (7-15 NSIC) with the victory over the Golden Bears. UMC, the No. 6 seed in the NSIC North, advances to play No. 2 seed Northern State University Sat., Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. The winner will move on to play the winner of Winona State University and Augustana University on Mon., Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m. The win over the Golden Bears is the second in three years over CSP in the first round of tournament play. They defeated Concordia-St. Paul in 2015 at Lysaker Gymnasium in order to advance to play at the Sanford Pentagon.

Concordia-St. Paul ends the season with a 19-10 mark.

The Golden Eagles would be led by 23 points from Alison Hughes (So., G, Janesville, Wis.) on 7-of-12 from the field and 7-of-10 from the beyond the arc. Micaela Noga (Jr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) added 21 points on 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. She was 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Emily Gruber (Jr., F, Monticello, Minn.) added 13 points and seven boards, while Isieoma Odor (R-So., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Minnesota Crookston shot 24-of-48 from the field for 50 percent. They were 12-of-24 from beyond the arc for 50 percent and 17-of-21 from the charity stripe for 81 percent.

Concordia-St. Paul was led by 24 points and seven boards on 11-of-18 from the field by Caitlyn Russell. Anna Schmitt added 21 points and eight boards on 7-of-18 from the field. Mishayla Jones chipped in 12 points.

The Golden Bears shot 27-of-66 from the field for 40.9 percent. They were just 4-of-21 from beyond the arc for 19 percent and 15-of-19 for 78.9 percent from the charity stripe.

UMC would be out-rebounded 35-32 by Concordia-St. Paul.

Minnesota Crookston would jump out to an early 17-12 advantage on the Golden Bears led by 10 points from Noga. UMC would extend their lead to 20-14 on a triple from Hughes. They would push their lead out further as Noga connected on a three-pointer for her 13^th point of the first quarter to make it 24-18. Concordia-St. Paul would cut the deficit to 24-21 going into the quarter break as Hanna Vidlund hit the triple.

UMC would open up the second quarter with a three from Noga, her 16^th point of the game, as UMC would lead 27-21. The Golden Bears would use a 7-2 run to pull within 29-28 following a Schmitt jumper. However, the Golden Eagles would hold CSP off with a layup from Gruber to push the lead to 31-28. Concordia-St. Paul would pull back within one at 33-32 on a jumper from Jones. However, UMC would come up with a big answer led by back-to-back three-pointers from Hughes to put the Golden Eagles up 39-34. A jumper from Gruber would extend the lead to 41-34 as Minnesota Crookston would use the 8-2 run to take the eight-point lead with 2:09 left in the second quarter.

Minnesota Crookston would go into the break up 44-36 on the Golden Bears.

Noga would lead UMC with 16 points on 4-of-8 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Gruber added 11 points on 5-of-8 from the field, while Hughes had 12 points on 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Minnesota Crookston had a strong first half as they shot 15-of-28 from the field for 53.6 percent. They would go 8-of-13 from beyond the arc for 61.5 percent. The Golden Eagles shot 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for 85.7 percent.

The Golden Bears shot 13-of-32 from the field for 40.6 percent. They were just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc for 27.3 percent. CSP would go 7-of-9 from the foul line for 77.8 percent.

The Golden Bears looked to nine points and four boards from Russell in the post. Schmitt added nine points on 4-of-8 from the field, while Jones added seven points.

Concordia-St. Paul would open the second half on a 9-2 run as they cut the lead to 46-45 on a Kayla Miller layup with 7:33 left in the third quarter. The Golden Bears would move the run to 11-2 as Russell had the layup to take the lead 47-46. A pair of free throw shots from Schmitt and a layup from Russell would extend the lead for CSP to 51-46. The Golden Bears would extend their third quarter run to 21-2 led by four points from Schmitt to go up 57-46 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

UMC would get their third and fourth points of the quarter on a pair of free throws from Caitlin Michaelis (So., G, Marshfield, Wis.) to pull within 57-48. However, Concordia-St. Paul responded with a layup by Russell to make it 59-48. The Golden Bears would go into the quarter break up 59-49 as they outscored the Golden Eagles 23-5 in the third period.

Minnesota Crookston would open the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run led by a three from Hughes as they cut the lead to 61-56. Concordia-St. Paul responded with a 4-0 run led by buckets from Jones and Schmitt to put them up 65-56 with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter.

UMC would use a 5-0 run led by a triple from Hughes to pull within 65-61 with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter. A Gruber layup would extend the run to 7-0 as the Golden Eagles pulled within 65-63 with 5:04 left in the game.

The Golden Bears would stave off UMC for the moment as Russell converted the layup to make it 67-63. Minnesota Crookston would go on an 8-3 run as they took the 71-70 lead with 1:39 remaining on a Hughes triple. Concordia-St. Paul would knot it up 71-71 as Jones hit 1-of-2 from the line. The Golden Bears would have an opportunity off of the missed free throw, but Russell would miss her chance giving the ball back to Minnesota Crookston.

Noga, who had a big first half for UMC, would come through in the biggest of moments as she nailed a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to make it 74-71.

Schmitt would miss her opportunity for the Golden Bears and UMC would come up with a big team rebound, forcing Concordia-St. Paul to foul. The Golden Bears would have to send the NSIC's top free throw shooter Hughes to the charity stripe. She would hit both to make it 76-71.

The Golden Bears would pull within three on a Russell jumper but would have to foul again. They would send Hughes to the charity stripe again. The sophomore would hit 1-of-2 to make it 77-71.

Concordia-St. Paul would get two chances in the final seconds but neither would fall as UMC would pull off the upset of the Golden Bears to go to their third-straight NSIC/Sanford Health Quarterfinals in Sioux Falls, S.D.