Marquette, Mich., -- Minnesota Crookston women's basketball made the eight and a half hour trip to Marquette, Mich., looking to knock off the Wildcats of Northern Michigan University, who came into tonight 2-0.
The Wildcats used a 13-9 fourth quarter to knock off the Golden Eagles, 50-48 to stay undefeated and improve to 3-0. The Golden Eagles fall to 0-3 on the season.
The Wildcats would score the first points of the night, but a
Kylie Post (Sr., G, Corcoran, Minn.) layup on the break would tie things up at two.
The Golden Eagles would go on a 7-0 run over a span of about two minutes, highlighted by a
Mary Burke (Sr., F, Virginia, Minn.) three-point make and a pair of layups from
Abigail Leach (Jr., G/F, Wyoming, Minn.) and
Jes Mertens (So., G, Devils Lake, Minn.) to go up 9-4.
Alex Page (Fr., F, Grand Forks, N.D.) and Leach would bury a pair of shots from deep to give the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the night at nine.
Minnesota Crookston would lead 17-8 heading into the second quarter of play.
The Wildcats would hold the Golden Eagles to just six second quarter points to take a 26-23 lead heading into the halftime break.
The Golden Eagles would shoot 29 percent in the first half.
Minnesota Crookston would get off to a great start in the second half, scoring the first four points with the help of a Mertens steal that turned into an easy Post layup.
With the Golden Eagles trailing 33-31,
Kylea Praska (Sr., G, Thief River Falls, Minn.) would score five-straight points, including her first make from deep on the season to take a 36-33 lead midway through the third quarter.
The Golden Eagles would lead 39-37 heading into the final quarter of play after an
Abi Fraaza (Fr., F, Birnamwood, Wis.) layup with 14 seconds remaining in the third.
NMU would take a 46-42 lead, but Mertens would bury a huge three with 3:45 remaining in the game to cut the lead to just one.
Emily Mueller would make a huge jumper following a Wildcat offensive rebound to put the Wildcat lead to two possessions at 49-45.
The Golden Eagles would score the next three to cut the lead to one, after a Leach layup with seven seconds remaining.
Following a foul by Mertens, Makaylee Kuhn would go one for two from the line for the Wildcats to put NMU up 50-48. Minnesota Crookston would have a chance to tie or win it, but Mertens' shot at the horn fell short.
The Golden Eagles were led by Leach, who finished with nine points on 4-7 shooting from the field in her first career game as a Golden Eagle. Mertens and Post each finished with seven, while Burke finished the night with six points.
The Golden Eagles bench continues to provide, finishing with 25 points on the night.
Minnesota Crookston will look to finish their Michigan trip on a high note as they look to knock off No. 16 Michigan Tech tomorrow night in Houghton, Mich. Tip-off between the Huskies and Golden Eagles is set for 4:30 P.M.
