Women's Basketball Release: February 28
NCC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
#4 Minnesota Duluth 83, #5 St. Cloud State 79
Duluth, Minn. -- Minnesota Duluth topped off St. Cloud State, 83-79, in the first round of the North Central Conference Tournament at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth.
After a rough first half, the Huskies soared into the second half tallying twenty points in the first five and half minutes and coming to with in six points of Duluth. The Bulldogs never let down, as everytime the Huskies would start a comeback UMD would answer with big shots, keeping their lead throughout the second half.
The Huskies went on a 9-0 run late in the second and with 2:43 left the Huskies pulled with in two points on a lay-up by Erika Quigley. The Bulldogs came back with a three point play from Kim Wagers giving UMD the momentum they needed to finish the game ahead.
The Bulldogs led at half 38-20, after shooting 50 percent to the Huskies 23 percent. SCSU rebounded in the second shooting 68 percent, but could not stop UMD from outside the arch where they were four of four after intermission.
Quigley led the Huskies with 35 points, just three shy of her career-high 38. She grabbed seven boards and blocked two shots. Kayla Rengel charted 20 for SCSU, blocking three shots and grabbign six boards. Jackie Carlson, Danielle Ellison-Yancy, and Krystal Scott tallied the rest of the points for SCSU, charting 11, nine and four respectively.
Katie Winkelman led the Bulldogs with 27 points. Kim Wagers played a huge role for UMD as she grabbed a game leading 13 rebounds, while only charting six points. Justine Axtell charted five three-pointers for UMD, tallying 19 points in the game. Jaquie Hartman marked 12 points from the bench for the Bulldogs.
#7 Nebraska-Omaha 64, #2 Augustana 61
Sioux Falls, S.D. - Augustana had its hopes of a North Central Conference championship dashed as the Vikings were upset by Nebraska-Omaha, 64-61, at the Elmen Center.
Augustana (25-6) started the first half slowly as the Mavericks went on an early 10-2 run. Thanks to a string of six 3-pointers, Augie clawed its way back into the game, coming to within one with 6 minutes left to play.
The Vikings finally took the lead at 27-26 with 3 minutes left, before UNO went on a 9-2 run to end the half ahead at 35-29.
Karen Thies spearheaded the charge for Nebraska-Omaha (15-11). Thies scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes on 4 of 6 shooting, including a 3 of 4 effort behind the 3-point line.
The Vikings seemed revitalized at the start of the second half, outscoring the Mavericks 10-2 in the first seven minutes to tie the score at 39. The two teams traded the lead until Nebraska-Omaha tied the game at 54 with three minutes left. Augie would not lead again.
Augustana did have a final chance to tie the game. With 11 seconds left, Augie trailed 64-61 and had the ball. However, Andrea Walsh's 3-pointer from the left corner did not find its mark and UNO extended its season.
Augie shot just 28.8 (19 for 66) percent from the field for the game, and was just 26.5 percent (9 for 34) from the 3-point line. Leading Augie was Alison Adamson with 16 points and 4 steals. Whitney Hofer added 11 points and Ashley Holiday netted 9.
Theis led all scorers with a game-high 20 points. Alyssa Green had 13 points, while Cayla Hargrove added nine.
#3 South Dakota 68, #6 Minnesota State 60
Vermillion, S.D. - With a 68-60 victory over the Minnesota State South Dakota earned a trip to the semifinal round of the North Central Conference Basketball Championship.
After five lead changes in the first half alone, the Mavericks used a solid 52 percent (12-23) shooting effort to rack-up a 32-26 advantage at halftime. By the intermission, Joanne Noreen had already posted 12 points, sinking 5-of-6 free throws. South Dakota was just 10-of-28 (36 percent) from the field.
An intense second half saw numerous lead changes early on with neither team able to pull away. Noreen continued to shine, sinking 15 more points, but South Dakota's used free throws to its advantage. After visiting the line on only four occasions in the first half, USD finished 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) from the charity stripe in the second. MSU had only 12 attempts from the line on the game.
Noreen finished the contest with a career-high 27 points, while Alex Andrews also finished in double digits with 14 points. Noreen's 27 points surpassed her previous career high by 10 points. Tiffany Moe led the team with five assists. The Mavericks led 35-30 in rebounding but suffered 19 turnovers to South Dakota's 12.
Bridget Yoerger led USD with 19 points (6-10), while Jeana
Hoffman added 16, Ashley Robinette had 13 and Jenna Hoffman posted
11 points. Shannon Daly distributed a game and career-high 11
assists.