Crookston, Minn. – Today was senior night for the Golden Eagles Women's basketball team as they played Northern State in the second game of their season series with the Wolves. After coming off of a 66-63 win on Friday night, the Golden Eagles close out Northern State yet again with a 69-64 victory to sweep the season series. Led by
Jes Mertens (Fr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) with 19 points, the Golden Eagles were able to finish off Northern State with solid three point and free throw shooting. The Golden Eagles move to 2-4 on the season as the Wolves fall to 1-3.
Key stats – Three point shooting and free throws were the keys to this victory for UMN Crookston. The Golden Eagles shot 40.7% t from behind the arc and 88.9% from the charity stripe. Northern State had a better shooting percentage from the field in comparison to the Golden Eagles (40.4% to 35.6%) but could not find a rhythm from the three point line as they only shot 33.3%. They did not shoot bad from the free throw line going 12-18 (66.7%) but it was not enough as the Golden Eagles strong shooting from deep held them up in the end. The rebound battle between both teams was close as the Wolves edged the Golden Eagles 38-35. Turnovers were yet again an issue for the Wolves as they finished with 18. The Golden Eagles had one of their better games in terms of turnovers this season with 13. The Golden Eagles also led the Wolves in both assists and steals. The Golden Eagles had 15 assists and 13 steals whereas the Wolves had eight and seven.
Key players – UMN Crookston only had three players with double digit scoring tonight, but did a great job of getting everyone shots. Mertens led the game in scoring with 19,
Mary Burke (R-So., F, Virginia, Minn.) finished the game with 13, and
Haylee Wheeler (Fr., F, Lakeville, Minn.) added in 10. The Golden Eagles were led in steals by Mertens and
Kylie Post (Jr., G, Corcoran, Minn.) who each had three. Wheeler and Mertens both led the team in rebounds with five.
Northern State was led in scoring by Lexi Wadsworth who had 14, Rianna Fillipi finished with 12 points and three steals, and Joie Spier finished with 11 points. Both Wadsworth and Spier had 10 rebounds in the game.
Key runs – The Golden Eagles had a hot start in the first quarter shooting 5-of-12 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. The Wolves struggled right away shooting 4-of-16 while going 0-of-5 from three point land.
The Wolves came out hot in the second quarter going on a 14-5 run to start things off. The Wolves used solid rebounding and fast play to take the lead over the Golden Eagles, but UMC was able to make a push of their own at the end of the quarter to go into the half down only one.
The third quarter was slow for both teams as each team only managed to score 12 points. Nobody was able to take advantage of open threes with the two teams combining for a 2-of-10 clip from deep.
The Golden Eagles found something in the start of the fourth and came out hot. They were able to use a 12-3 run to regain the lead from Northern State. Both teams were trading buckets during the fourth taking shots at each other from deep. With 37 seconds left Lexi Wadsworth hit a three to bring the Wolves within two. The Wolves' guard Rianna Fillipi got hit with a crucial five second call on an inbounds play that gave the ball back to the Golden Eagles with 15 seconds left on the clock. UMN Crookston was able to make all four of their free throws within the last 15 seconds to hold on to the lead and sweep the weekend against the Wolves.
Up next – The Golden Eagles will travel to Minot State University next weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. to take on the Beavers. The Golden Eagles will look to secure their first three game win streak since November of 2018.
