Women's Basketball Report: February 1
Minnesota State 71, Minnesota Duluth 65
Duluth, Minn. -- Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team did something Thursday night it hadn't done all season. The Bulldogs lost at home.
Minnesota State remained an enigma to UMD, as the Mavericks held on to a 59-55 win in Romano Gymnasium, the first such win by an opponent this season. The Bulldogs loss snaps their 6-game home winning streak and leaves them 0-2 against MSU this winter.
The Mavericks pushed the tempo early, dashing out to their largest lead of 15 (15-5) with just over five minutes played. Though UMD would respond with its own 12-4 run to climb within two (19-17), the Bulldogs would never even the score, clinging to a 31-26 disadvantage at the half.
UMD appeared to shake off its first-half doldrums when it took its first lead of 34-33 at the 16:21 mark. But the Mavericks would again test the defensive limits of the Bulldogs by going on a 12-2 binge that left the Maroon and Gold trailing by 10 (54-44) with exactly seven minutes to play.
The Bulldogs would dig in one final time, holding MSU scoreless for a four minute span that would run UMD's tab to 10-0 and leave the score tied for a final time with just 3:08 remaining. Five Bulldog fouls and an inability to score in the final minute and a half would handcuff any UMD attempt at a comeback. The Mavericks, who until the closing two minutes had only gotten to the charity stripe twice, would hit 3-of-5 free throws in the last 98 seconds to secure their second conference win of the season.
UMD, who was out rebounded 39-26, was led by Katie Winkelman and Justine Axtell. Winkelman notched her fourth double-double of the season by tallying 17 points and 10 boards in 39 minutes of play. Axtell chipped in 15 points on the evening.
Heather Johnson led MSU with 17 points, including 3-of-10 three-pointers, while Alex Andrews earned her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
St. Cloud State 66, North Dakota 61
St. Cloud, Minn. - A comeback that was nearly unthinkable to North Dakota fans took place at Halenbeck Hall, as the Huskies of St. Cloud State battled back from a 16-point deficit to upset number one ranked North Dakota, 66-61.
The Huskies trailed UND by seven points after intermission, and were able to pull within five before North Dakota went on a 12-1 run, leading by 16 with ten minutes left in the game. SCSU was down 58-51 as Kayla Rengel hit a jumper in the lane and drew a foul, tallying her extra-point started a Husky run that put the crowd on their feet. The Huskies took the lead 59-58, with under two minutes left, off an identical play by Rengel that had started their scoring spurt just minutes before.
After a UND timeout, Kierah Kimbrough tied the game at 59, hitting one of her two free throw attempts. The Huskies went to their All-American the next time down the court, as Erika Quigley hit a huge bucket from outside the charity stripe giving the St. Cloud the lead that they held onto for the final 40 seconds of the game. Shannon Francis hit three of four attempts at the charity stripe in the final 15 seconds to solidify the victory for SCSU.
The win for SCSU snaps UND's 18-game winning streak, and their 24 game road-winning streak. It was the first time since January 19, 2001, that the Huskies had beat UND at Halenbeck Hall. This was the first game this season that the Huskies have won when they have not scored at least 71 points.
Rengel led the team with a season-high 24 points and picked up her first double-double of the year with 11 boards. She also had two blocks and two assists. Quigley scored her season low of 14 points, charting seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Jackie Carlson also charted a double-double for SCSU, picking up 12 of both rebounds and points. Francis scored all of her nine points in the first half, and ended the night with three assists and four boards.
The dominate post duo of Kimbrough and Ashley Langen of North Dakota, picked up two double-doubles, combining for 29 points and 25 rebounds. Kimbrough scored 13 points and grabbed 15 boards, as Langen scored nearly all of her 16 points off of her 10 rebounds. Carissa Jahner tallied 15 points for UND and dished out five assists while picking up five steals.
Non-Conference
Augustana 72, Briar Cliff 46