Minnesota State University Moorhead upended the University of Minnesota Duluth 63-54 in the opening round of the NCAA II Tournament on Friday night at the Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kan. The fourth-seeded Bulldogs received 22 points from freshman forward Brooke Olson, a career high, but the fifth-seeded Dragons held on to advance to the semifinals tomorrow against central region host No. 3 Fort Hays State University.

UMD (23-7) struggled to get the lid off the basket as they shot a season-low 29 percent on a season-high 80 shots. It finished 23-for-80 from the field and only 5-for-22 beyond the arc. Nothing seemed to work  MSU Moorhead (27-6) stymied the Bulldog offense enough to grab the lead in the second quarter and fight off the Bulldog comeback. The Dragons relied on their defense as they threw the ball the away 19 times and only shot 35 percent from the field. UMD controlled the battle in the paint and points off turnovers. The Bulldogs outscored MSUM 28-16 in the restricted area and had a 14-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Bulldogs got off to a fast start with the help of its senior point guard. Sammy Kozlowski netted 10 of UMD's 15 points in the opening 10 minutes. The gameplan was almost identical to the conference championship as the Bulldogs hounded the Dragons from the tip forcing turnovers and bad shot selections. UMD had its biggest lead of the night at 15-7 with 2:04 left in the first quarter. The Dragons closed the gap on a 7-0 run before the end of the quarter to trail 15-14. MSU Moorhead continued its adjustment in the second as they were able to take the lead after closing the half on another 7-0 run to take a 29-26 lead into the locker room.

The Dragons built on their halftime lead outscoring the Bulldogs 14-11 in the third to carry a 43-37 advantage to the fourth. UMD made only five baskets in the third with four of those makes coming from the hot hand of Olson. The Rice Lake, Minn. native kept the Bulldogs within range as she scored 15 of her 22 points in the second half. MSU Moorhead pushed its lead out to 10 points with under four minutes but UMD gave one last push as the lead was sliced to 55-51 with 69 ticks remaining. Spearheading the charge in the fourth was senior guard Emma Boehm. The Eden Prairie, Minn., native knocked down six points and dished out a pair of assists.

However, the Dragons dialed up the perfect play on the next possession. Coming out of a review, MSUM got the ball into the post and found a cutting Jacky Volkert for an easy layup late in the shot clock to dash the hopes of the Bulldogs.

The decisive chess match went in favor of the Dragons as they won the fourth-and-final meeting between the two conference rivals.

Olson ended with 22 points to lead all scorers and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Boehm ended with 14 points and a team-high four dimes. Kozlowski was held in check after her big first quarter finishing with 10 points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist. Sophomore forward Sarah Grow, the conference tournament MVP the last time the two teams met, posted two points on seven shots but was active on the defensive end once again with a game-high three blocks. Grow finished eight blocks shy of tying the program record for blocks in a single season. 

Volkert had 16 points to lead the Dragons. Madi Green compiled 14 points and Megan Hintz had five points, a game-high six assists and a game-high 15 rebounds for MSU Moorhead.

The loss signaled the end of the colligate career's of Boehm, Josie Buckley and Kozlowski. The trio's final push this season set the cornerstone of a ongoing resurgence as they went 39-18 the last two seasons.

The Bulldogs, whom made its 11th overall appearance to the NCAA II Tournament, fell to 7-11 all-time in the national tournament. UMD's 23 wins this season was the most since the program notched 25 wins in 2002-03 and it was the first 20-win season since 2009-10. The Bulldogs finished runner-ups in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season and claimed the program's fifth postseason championship, the most among the league members, along the way to their first NCAA Tournament run in seven years. They also posted 18 NSIC wins this season, which set a new program record.