The University of Minnesota Duluth put together a comeback with 21 points in the fourth quarter, but could not complete the effort as Minnesota State University Moorhead, receiving votes in last week's Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II poll, knocked off the Bulldogs 61-53 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division action on Saturday afternoon in Moorhead.
UMD (2-6, 2-3 NSIC) drops the first two legs of a three-game road trip with the defeat, matching up with St. Cloud State University next Saturday to close out the 2015 schedule. The Bulldogs got 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from junior center
Allyson Harris, but the team's only lead came on a three-point score from first-year guard
Sammy Kozlowski in the opening minutes of the game. Kozlowski finished with 10 points and five rebounds in the game. MSU Moorhead (RV, 7-1, 4-1 NSIC) made good on a three-pointer of its own to take a 5-3 lead and never looked back, opening an 11-3 lead en route to a 19-10 score after the first quarter. UMD pulled within three as Harris laid-in a scorejust 3:45 into the second quarter, making it a one-point lead moments later as sophomore forward
Ayo Porte lifted a pair of scores, finishing with six points and a team-high seven rebounds. Despite outscoring the Dragons in the second quarter, the Bulldogs would get no closer.
Moorhead put together a big third quarter, extending its lead out to 48-31. With 21 points in the fourth quarter on 10-of-15 shooting, UMD made it interesting late by pulling within five with just under two minutes remaining. Moorhead hit a three in the closing minutes to hold the Bulldogs at bay. The Dragons' Savanna Handevidt scored a game-high 22 points while hauling in a high of 14 rebounds.
UMD and St. Cloud State will close out the season's first half next Saturday night in a rematch of a meeting at Romano Gym earlier this season which saw SCSU escape with a 65-53 victory. Opening tip between the Bulldogs and Huskies is set for 2:00 p.m. in St. Cloud, preceding the men's game.
