DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth used a 14-4 run in the second half to ignite a 73-65 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team. The Golden Eagles made a late charge, cutting the lead to six in the final minute, but UMD would hold on for the win to pick up the season sweep of the Golden Eagles. The game was the opener of 2018 for Minnesota Crookston Sat., Jan. 5 at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 2-10 (2-6 NSIC) with Friday's loss to UMD. Minnesota Duluth improved their mark to 8-4 (5-3 NSIC) with the victory. UMD leads the all-time series 31-3. They have taken the last four games from the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston looked to a banner night from Noga, who was 7-of-10 from the field for 23 points. She was 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Noga led the team with seven rebounds. Isieoma Odor (R-Jr., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) added 14 points and five rebounds on 5-of-16 from the field. Stephanie McWilliams (So., G, Grand Forks, N.D.) added 11 points on 4-of-8 from the field.

The Bulldogs contained Caitlin Michaelis (Jr., G, Marshfield, Wis.) as she finished with just three points on 1-of-6 from the field. Abby Guidinger (Fr., G/F, Waukesha, Wis.) came off the bench for six points and five rebounds.

Minnesota Crookston was 21-of-54 from the field for 38.9 percent. The Golden Eagles continued to shoot well from beyond the arc as they were 7-of-15 for 46.7 percent. Minnesota Crookston shot 16-of-18 for 88.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Sammy Kozlowski paced the Bulldogs with 20 points on 8-of-19 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Kozlowski added seven rebounds and seven assists. Katie Stark contributed 13 points and five boards, while Sarah Grow chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. Ann Simonet and Emma Boehm each added eight points.

UMD shot 30-of-62 for 48.4 percent on the night. The Bulldogs were 6-of-13 for 46.2 percent from beyond the arc. They overcame their tough free throw shooting night as they were just 7-of-15 for 46.7 percent from the foul line. Minnesota Duluth won the rebounding edge on the game 36-34. They forced 13 Golden Eagle turnovers on the night.

Minnesota Duluth used a 5-0 run guided by a trey from Simonet to open the game. UMD extended their lead to 8-2 with a three-pointer from Kozlowski. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 4-0 run with a basket from McWilliams and a pair of free throws from Noga as the Golden Eagles pulled within 8-6. A Taylor Schneider basket for UMD stopped the run for Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-0 run led by free throws from Guidinger and a jumper from McWilliams as Minnesota Crookston knotted the game up 10-10.

UMD responded with a pair of baskets from Stark to move back into the lead 14-10. Minnesota Crookston pulled within one with a Michaelis triple to pull within 14-13. An Allison Olley jumper put Minnesota Duluth back up 16-13 going into the quarter break.

The Golden Eagles pulled back within one early in the second quarter as Guidinger sank a jumper early in the frame to cut the deficit to 16-15. A Simonet triple extended UMD's lead back out to 19-15. Minnesota Crookston again pulled within one as Noga nailed a triple to cut the deficit to 19-18. UMD continued to fight off the charge of the Golden Eagles as Boehm hit a three-pointer of her own to make it 22-18. A Sarah Grow bucket moved the score to 24-20. Noga then came up big as she hit a three followed by a pair of free throws to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 25-24. The lead did not last for long as a Payton Kahl basket made it 26-25 with 5:30 remaining in the second quarter. However, Noga came up big again with a triple to tilt the score back in Minnesota Crookston's favor 28-26. Kowlowski knotted the game up 28-28 for the Bulldogs with 3:20 left in the half. Ayo Porte hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe and Olley connected on a jumper to give Minnesota Duluth a 31-28 lead going into the locker room.

Noga filled up the hoop with an impressive 15 first-half points for the Golden Eagles. Noga was 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in the opening frame. She also led Minnesota Crookston on the boards with six rebounds. McWilliams added four points, as did Guidinger.

 Minnesota Crookston shot 9-of-25 for 36.0 percent in the opening half. The Golden Eagles were 4-of-8 for 50.0 percent from beyond the arc. Minnesota Crookston shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the first half.

Minnesota Duluth was led in the opening half by six points from Simonet. Kozlowski and Boehm each added five points. The Bulldogs were 13-of-31 for 41.9 percent from the field. UMD shot 4-of-8 for 50.0 percent from beyond the arc and were just 1-of-3 for 33.3 percent from the charity stripe.

The Golden Eagles won the early rebounding edge 19-17. Minnesota Crookston had eight first half turnovers, while UMD had great ball control with 11 assists to just five turnovers.

Noga continued where she left off as she opened the third quarter with her fourth 3-pointer of the game to tie the game up 31-31. Isieoma Odor hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Golden Eagles a 4-0 run and the 32-31 edge in the early going of the third quarter. Kozlowski stopped the Minnesota Crookston run with a trey to put Minnesota Duluth back up 34-32 with 7:13 left in the quarter. Noga scored her 20^th point of the game as the Golden Eagles tied the game up 34-34. The Bulldogs responded with a 4-0 run with baskets from Grow and Kozlowski to take the 38-34 advantage.

An Odor jumper and a pair of free throws from McWilliams ignited a 4-0 run for the Golden Eagles to knot the game up 38-38 with 5:20 left in the frame. UMD broke the tie with a Kozlowski jumper to tilt the scoreboard in their favor 40-38. The Bulldogs built their run to 6-0 and widened their advantage to 44-38 with baskets from Kahl and Kozlowski. The Golden Eagles caught fire out of a timeout as Noga hit a three and Gruber put in a jumper to pull within 44-43. A bucket from Grow fended off the Golden Eagles for the moment and gave UMD the 46-43 lead. Kozlowski drove to the hoop for a basket with two seconds remaining to put Minnesota Duluth up 48-43 going into the quarter break.

A basket from Stark extended Minnesota Duluth's lead to 50-43 early in the fourth quarter. Minnesota Crookston pulled with five points with a basket from Odor. However, UMD came back with a 4-0 run with baskets from Simonet and Stark to push the advantage out to 54-45. A pair of free throws from Gruber cut the advantage to 54-47. UMD responded with a 4-0 run to take the 58-47 lead following a bucket from Stark. Odor scored seven-straight to pull the Golden Eagles within 62-54 with 3:42 remaining. A basket from Grow moved the Minnesota Duluth lead to 64-54. Kasey Harper brought the game back within 64-55 as she hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. However, Schneider came back on the other end and hit a pair from the charity stripe to extended the lead to 66-55. Odor brought the game back within 66-57, but UMD continued to fight off the charge as Boehm hit a triple to make it 69-57. McWilliams countered with a trey of her own to bring Minnesota Crookston back within 69-60. Schneider hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to put Minnesota Duluth in the driver's seat 70-60.

Harper came up big for Minnesota Crookston with an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the lead to 70-63 with 1:17 remaining. Stark hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to move the lead to 71-63. Minnesota Crookston did not give in as McWilliams came up with a jumper on the other end to cut the deficit to 71-65 with 50 seconds left in the game. Kozlowski hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to bring the UMD lead to 72-65. On the other end, McWilliams missed a shot, forcing the Golden Eagles to foul. Kozlowski hit 1-of-2 to extend the lead for Minnesota Duluth to 73-65. This time Harper turned the ball over to give the ball back to the Bulldogs and they would hold on for the 73-65 win.

Minnesota Crookston will return to action Sat., Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. at St. Cloud State University.