Women's Basketball Release: January 11
St. Cloud State 76, Minnesota State 68
St. Cloud, Minn. -- Despite holding a one-point advantage at halftime, Minnesota State couldn't keep pace with St. Cloud State in the second Thursday night, falling 76-68 at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall.
The Mavericks quickly found themselves down, 5-2, but took off on a 10-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to gain a comfortable lead. MSU's solid defense held the Huskies' leading scorer, Erika Quigley, scoreless until six minutes into the game when she interrupted MSU's run. The Mavericks kept their lead for the remainder of the half - but just barely - as the team led by just one at the intermission, 35-34. MSU shot 45 percent (17-38) from the floor, holding St. Cloud State to a 36 percent (12-33) effort. But SCSU sank 9-of-10 free throws while the Mavericks didn't visit the line at all.
St. Cloud State opened the second half with a 21-6 run that put the game out of the Mavericks' reach. The Huskies led by as much as 19 with 2:58 left in the game. After sinking 11 points in the first, Quigley came back to net another 18 in the second to cement SCSU's first conference victory of the season.
MSU finished 30-of-76 from the field (40 percent), while the Huskies were 31-of-67 (46 percent). Alex Andrews put in a team-high 13 points, while Alanna Wahl added 12 points and Flecia Foster recorded 11 points. Teresa Parker grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds - surpassing her previous season high by three.
Quigley's 29 points and 13 rebounds marked her 12th double-double of the season. Kayla Rengel added 18 points and nine rebounds, while SCSU out-rebounded Minnesota State, 46-41.
Augustana 57, Minnesota Duluth 56
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Augustana extended its winning streak to 18 games as the Vikings edged Minnesota Duluth 57-56 at the Sioux Falls Arena.
For the second time in as many games, Alison Adamson scored what proved to be the winning points as she sank a running jumper in the lane with 16 seconds left in the game to put the Vikings ahead 57-56.
Minnesota Duluth's Katie Winkelman had a chance to win the game for the Bulldogs, but her baseline jumper hit the rim at the buzzer.
Augie trailed by 8 points, 33-25, at halftime, just the second time this season, as Minnesota Duluth controlled the pace of the game. The Vikings worked their way back in it, thanks in part to the spark of Amy Puthoff, who scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half, and was 12-for-12 from the free throw line. Augie tied the game at 49 with 5 minutes to play, just before Ashley Holiday fouled out and UMD leading by 3, 52-49.
With a 12-foot jumper by Whitney Hofer and free throws from Alison Adamson and freshman Dani Arens, Augie took its first lead of the half with 2:35 left to play at 53-52. Winkelman put in a layup to give UMD the lead again at 54-53, but Arens scored on a turnaround jumper with one minute remaining to put the Vikings ahead 55-54.
UMD's Katy Freeman made another layup with just 40 seconds left, putting Minnesota Duluth up 56-55. On Augie's next possession, Adamson drove through an open lane with just 16 seconds on the clock and put in the game-winning basket, her first field goal of the game.
Puthoff came off the bench with 20 points, fourth 20-point game of the year, to go along with a career high 9 rebounds. Andrea Walsh added 11 points, while Arens contributed 5, to account for 36 bench points.
Winkelman had 23 points and 7 steals for
Minnesota Duluth, while Freeman added 10 points.