The UMD women's basketball team made the first regular-season game of the year in Romano a memorable one on Wednesday. The Bulldogs dug out of a 19-5 first quarter deficit to prevail over Parkside 68-63. With the win, UMD's record sits at 2-1.

There's likely not that much that UMD will want to look back on from the game's first frame. An efficient period of shooting for the Rangers overlapped with a tough spurt for the Bulldogs. Parkside also controlled the battle at the glass, out-rebounding UMD 13-7. Along those lines, the Rangers outscored the Bulldogs 10-4 in the paint through one quarter.

The Bulldogs had a steep hill ahead to climb, but in the second quarter, they set out to do just that.

Five quick points from Brooke Olson to start the frame brought the Rangers' lead down to single digits at 19-10. A Kaylee Nelson three shortly after would cut it to eight at 21-13. From there, the teams played a game of back-and-fourth for a bit, Parkside re-establishing a 10-point advantage only for UMD to trim it back down a digit. That is until the score was 25-15, when the Bulldogs were able to string four consecutive points together to bring the advantage all the way down to just six at a score of 25-19. Once again, though, the Rangers responded right back, soon leaving the score at 29-19. The frame would go on to follow a similar pattern, but the Bulldogs would be able to enter the half down just eight at 32-24.

Olson led the Bulldogs through a productive second frame with seven points on 2-3 shooting from the field and a perfect 2-2 shooting from the free-throw line. Maesyn Thiesen wasn't far behind with six points on 2-3 shooting of her own. As a team, UMD won the rebounding war this time around, snagging nine boards to Parkside's four. Nelson led the way for the Bulldogs in that arena with three rebounds.

Once again, Olson stormed out to a big start to the quarter in the third frame with five points, including an and-one play. This, supplemented by a Taytum Rhoades jumper, brought Parkside's lead all the way down to a single point at 32-31. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, this would be met with an 8-2 run by the Rangers to leave the score at 40-33 heading into the media timeout with 4:51 to play in the frame. UMD would trail by just four later in the quarter when a Nelson three made it just 42-38, but the Rangers would close the book on the third with a 4-2 run to leave the score at 46-40 Parkside. 

Olson had another seven-point outing this quarter. Rhoades had four points to pair with four rebounds. Overall, the Bulldogs out-rebounded the Rangers once again, this time 11-5. Paty Gallasova led Parkside with four points on 2-2 shooting. 

Early on, it looked like the fourth and final frame would follow a similar pattern as the last two. Parkside had built its lead back up to nine at a score of 50-41 with just 8:30 left to play, and here came the Bulldogs to trim back into the deficit once again. Only this time, the Bulldogs kept storming- and the Rangers could never develop an answer. UMD went on a huge 11-2 run to finally knot the score up at 52-52. Then, a Rhoades free throw gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the entire game. It's a lead that would blossom all the way up to five at a score of 57-52 with 4:25 left to play. From there, the teams just kept trading blows, Parkside continuously making it a one-possession game only for the Bulldogs to double that right after. With just 2:30 left in the frame, the score was 63-58 UMD, With 57 seconds left, that was down to 65-63 Bulldogs. An Olson miss out of a timeout resulted in a Ranger rebound and a timeout of their own. Out of the break, Alyssa Nelson would miss a two-point tying bid, a shot Thiesen would rebound. Thiesen would get fouled with 17 seconds remaining and make it a three-point game at the line. A flurry of Ranger chances out of an ensuing timeout wouldn't lead to points, and UMD's Ella Gilbertson would ice the game at the line with two big free throws to clinch the game 68-63 for UMD. 

Olson waited until the end to have her best scoring quarter yet, ending the frame with nine points on 3-5 shooting. Rhoades had eight on perfect 3-3 shooting from the field. Things were even this time around in terms of team rebounds at seven apiece, but UMD had an advantage where it matters most: they outscored the Rangers 28-17 in the quarter. 

Olson and Rhoades both had a big second half in general. Olson had 16 points while Rhoades had 12 on 4-5 shooting. After not recording any points in the first half, Parkside's leading scorer in Alyssa Nelson had 14 in the second half, including going 6-8 from the free-throw line. All things considered, UMD out-rebounded the Rangers 18-12 and outscored them 44-31 in the second half. 

Olson closed the game with 23 points to lead all players. Integral to the forward's success in this game was her 6-7 shooting from the charity stripe. Olson and Nelson shared the team lead in rebounds with seven. Thiesen had a team-high four assists. Olson also had three blocks to lead her team. Alyssa Nelson's 14 points in the second half proved to be enough to lead the Rangers in points scored overall. Maja Leidefors had a team-high seven rebounds. Gallasova led the way with five assists. 

POST-GAME WITH PEARSON
In her team's matchup against the Rangers, UMD head coach Mandy Pearson got about everything she could have expected given the track record the two teams share. Throughout this particular incarnation of the Parkside-UMD duel, the trait Pearson noted most from the Bulldogs was their resiliency.

"Parkside is always a great game for us to play because they are talented, well coached and force us to learn so many things about our system throughout the course of the game," Pearson said. "They got out to a great start, and I was so proud that our players didn't panic. They stuck with it and found a way to work together to make some great plays."