BISMARCK, N.D. - The University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team fell 70-54 to the University of Mary at the McDowell Activity Center Thursday, December 7. The Golden Eagles struggled offensively, especially early in the game as they were held to 17.1 percent from the field. At half-time the score was 23-21. Both teams turned it on offensively in the second half as UMary outscored the Golden Eagles 47-33. Minnesota Crookston would be unable to overcome the Marauders in the key moments down the stretch.

The Golden Eagles fell to 5-5 (2-2 NSIC) with Thursday's loss. UMary improved to 4-5 (2-1 NSIC) with the victory. The Marauders have a two-game winning streak in the series. UMary has won the last five games at McDowell Activity Center. The game was the first of the season where Minnesota Crookston held their opponents to 70 points or less, falling to 5-1 when they did so.

Minnesota Crookston looked to Olivia Walsh (Fr., G/F, Austin, Minn.) with 15 points and six boards. Janie Tormanen (So., F/C, Menahga, Minn.) had a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards before fouling out late. Taryn Frazer (So., G, Cass Lake, Minn.) came off the bench for seven points. Emma Miller (So., G, Albertville, Minn.) added six.

The Golden Eagles were 17-of-65 for 26.2 percent from the field. They went 1-of-17 for 5.9 percent from beyond the arc. Minnesota Crookston had a strong night from the line, going 19-of-24 for 79.2 percent. They were outrebounded 61-44 by the Marauders, including allowing 27 offensive boards. UMary had 21 second-chance points. Minnesota Crookston had six assists to 19 turnovers in the game.

UMary looked to Lexie Schneider, the conference's leading scorer, who had a double-double of 26 points and 15 boards. Bergen Kinnebrew came off the bench for 15 points. Mariah McKeever added 10 points.

The Marauders went 23-of-74 for 31.1 percent. They were 3-of-21 for 14.3 percent from distance. UMary was 21-of-26 for 80.8 percent from the foul line. 

Minnesota Crookston opened the game on a 6-0 run, as a Walsh basket gave the Golden Eagles the early lead. UMary didn't get on the scoreboard until the 5:14 mark when Ashton Kinnebrew hit a free throw. The Kinnebrew sisters, Ashton and Bergen, accounted for the next five points to tie the game 6-6 with 3:15 remaining. The Golden Eagles were unable to find the basket for nearly five minutes, until Frazer hit a free throw to give U of M Crookston a 7-6 lead. The two teams went into the second quarter knotted 10-10 after a Miller basket with 1:41 remaining in the stanza.

UMary broke the 10-10 tie with 8:34 remaining with a pair of Schneider free throws. The Marauders widened the gap to 16-10 with a Bergen Kinnebrew bucket with 7:34 remaining in the second frame. The Marauders extended their run to 8-0 with a Schneider basket to widen the lead to 18-10. The Golden Eagles snapped a 4:33 scoreless streak with a Tormanen free throw to cut the deficit to 18-11 with 6:08 remaining in the stanza. Tormanen scored a field goal off a Walsh helper to bring Minnesota Crookston within 18-13 with 5:44 remaining in the stanza. UMary halted a 4-0 run with a Bergen Kinnebrew basket to push the Marauder advantage to 20-14. UMary widened the gap to 23-14 on a Bergen Kinnebrew trey with 2:43 left in the half. The U of M Crookston stopped the 5-0 run with a pair of Frazer free throws to trim the deficit to 23-16. Lily Orazem (Jr., G, Onamia, Minn.) hit a pair of free throws to cut the UMary lead to 23-18, followed by a Frazer triple to pull the Golden Eagles within two (23-21) with 40 seconds left in the second quarter. The Marauders went into the half with a 23-21 lead. 

Both teams struggled from the field in the first half. Minnesota Crookston went 6-of-35 for 17.1 percent, while UMary was 8-of-35 for 22.9 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles shot 12.5 percent from beyond the arc, while the Marauders hit at a 16.7 percent clip from three. Both teams were strong at the line with Minnesota Crookston hitting 80.0 percent at the line, while UMary had an 83.3 percent clip at the stripe.

The Marauders opened the third quarter with a basket from Schneider to extend the lead to 25-21. The Golden Eagles pulled within 27-24 with a Miller jumper with 8:41 remaining in the stanza. Addison Rozell responded with a three to quickly give the Marauders the 30-24 lead. Schneider scored a pair to make it a quick 5-0 run to give UMary a 32-24 advantage. Minnesota Crookston sliced the deficit to six with a basket from Walsh to trim the Marauder lead to 32-26. The Golden Eagles remained within six points for the majority of the ensuing minutes until UMary used a 6-0 run to widen the gap to 42-30 following a Schneider jumper with 1:52 left in the third frame. Minnesota Crookston stopped the run with a pair of Walsh free throws to pull back within 10 (42-32) with 1:42 remaining in the stanza. A pair of Orazem free throws built a 4-0 run for the Golden Eagles to cut the deficit to 42-34. Schneider went 2-of-2 at the stripe to widen the gap to 44-34. Megan Zander used an offensive board and a put-back to give UMary a 46-34 lead going into the final quarter.

The Marauders extended their lead to 48-34 with a McKeever bucket to open the fourth quarter to make it 48-34. The Golden Eagles countered with buckets from Tormanen and Nicole Hernandez (R-Jr., F/C, Oak Creek, Wis.) to pull them back within 10 (48-38) with 8:55 remaining in the game. Minnesota Crookston pushed their run to 6-0 with a conversion from Tormanen to trim the deficit to 48-40. Moriku Hakim hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to push the lead to nine (49-40). Tormanen continued her run, scoring six points during the stretch, to trim the UMary lead to seven. A Moriku Hakim lay-in gave the Marauders a 53-44 advantage with 6:35 left in the tilt. UMary pushed their advantage to 57-46 with Schneider's 26th point of the game. The U of M Crookston countered with a quick 4-0 run with baskets from Hope Dudycha (R-Fr., G, Austin, Minn.), and Rayna Klejeski (Fr., F, Barnum, Minn.) to cut the deficit to seven (57-50) with 3:51 left in the tilt. The Golden Eagles trimmed the lead to six with a free throw. Minnesota Crookston turned a Hope Dudycha steal into two points to get the lead down to 57-53 with 3:11 remaining. UMary responded with a McKeever jumper to push the advantage back to six. Bergan Kinnebrew hit a pair of crucial free throws with 2:14 remaining to widen the gap to 61-53. Hernandez connected on 1-of-2 from the stripe to cut the UMary lead to 61-54 with 1:55 remaining. McKeever would help to ice the win down the stretch as UMary won 70-54.

Minnesota Crookston hosts Minnesota State University Moorhead Thursday, December 14 at 7:30 p.m., in Crookston, Minn.