St. Cloud, Minn. – The UMD women's basketball team defeated St. Cloud State in a tight 59-56 contest on Tuesday night. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 3-1 on the year and start NSIC play 1-0. 

For almost the entirety of the first quarter, the game was one possession away from a lead change. It was a dead-heat. It stayed that way until the score was 11-11. Lexi Karge got fouled and sank both of her free-throws to make it 13-11. An ensuing Taytum Rhoades layup made this a two-score contest for the first time at 15-11, sending UMD into the second quarter with a 4 point lead. Well, not before Rhoades put in some work on the other end of the court by registering a block right before time expired to help keep her team's lead intact.

The Bulldogs spent the early part of the second frame extending their advantage.. Another Taytum Rhoades bucket followed by a Madelyn Granica layup suddenly left two teams that had once been inseparable distanced by eight points at 19-11. The Huskies would have none of this- they charged out on a 7-1 run to bring themselves back within two at 20-18. The Bulldogs had grown fond of holding a more comfortable lead, though, so they took strides to establish one again. UMD went on a 10-5 run to make the score 30-23 and their lead seven with just 1:06 to play in the first half. The two teams would then trade buckets to end the frame (with a Rhoades' answer of a layup coming in the final seconds) to leave the game at 32-25 heading into halftime. 

Rhoades had been an offensive standout for the Bulldogs in the first frame with eight points on perfect 4-4 shooting. She also had three rebounds through two quarters. Crucially, UMD made the most of their opportunities from the charity stripe in the first half,  shooting 5-6 from the line as a team. For the Huskies, Jada Eggebrecht had a team-high seven points going into the second half. St. Cloud went just 3-7 from the line in the first and just 10-26 (38.5%) from the field overall.

The Huskies started the third quarter with a surge, a huge 10-3 run to draw them back to within even. Fifth-year forward Katrina Theis had six of St. Cloud's points in this stretch on her own. It was Eggebrecht who finished the run with a layup to knot up the score. Two free-throw makes split across two different trips to the line then gave the Huskies their first lead since the score was 6-4. It would be short-lived- a Taya Hakamaki three-pointer gave the Bulldogs the lead right back at 38-37. From there, it was a game of hot-potato. Including the two that had just come before, there were nine total lead changes to close out the third quarter. When the smoke had settled, it was St. Cloud that found themselves with the lead, up just 47-45 heading into the final frame. Besides Theis' stretch of six points, Eggebrecht's seven points on 3-3 shooting throughout the quarter were huge for the Huskies' comeback efforts. It helps that St. Cloud shot 8-14 for the frame, too. 

The pace of the game didn't much change in the fourth. Back-and-forth and back-and-forth the lead went, five more times in this frame, to be exact. At one point, an Olson three gave the Bulldogs a lead of as many points at 56-53. When the Huskies only made one of the free-throw attempts at an ensuing trip to the line, that opened the door for Olson to sink both of hers later on to give the Bulldogs a much-coveted two-possession lead at 58-54. There was still 3:20 to be played, though, and if the rest of the game was any indication, the Huskies weren't going anywhere. St. Cloud did indeed stick around- off of a Rhoades turnover, Eggebrecht sank a jumper to make it just a two-point outing with 1:33 to play. From there, the game went through a lull period, with teams trading turnovers and fouls. Eggebrecht was able to get off a clean three afterwards  with just 11 seconds to go, but it didn't fall. Olson would get fouled after, but only one of her free-throws would connect, leaving the game within a possession of being tied at 59-56 with six seconds still on the clock. Who else to give the ball to here but Eggebrecht, who found herself with another chance to sink a three late. Unfortunately for the Huskies, Ella Gilbertson would get a touch on this one, sealing the deal for UMD at a score of 59-56.

Olson had quite the closing frame for the Bulldogs. The graduate forward had eight points to go along with five rebounds. As a team, efficiency from the charity stripe was once again crucial for UMD. They'd go 4-5 from the line in the fourth quarter. 

By the end of the game, Olson was the Bulldogs' leading scorer on the back of a big second half. She had 16 points on the night to pair with nine rebounds. Olson also had a team-high three steals. Rhoades also had a huge night for UMD. The senior guard put up 13 points on a flawless 6-6 shooting night. Granica also hit double-digits for the Bulldogs, putting up 10 to couple with five rebounds. 
For the Huskies, Eggebrecht had been an offensive force in the contest. The guard  ended the night with 18 points. Also big for St. Cloud was Theis, who had 13 on the night with nine boards.

POST-GAME WITH PEARSON: 
Before anything else, it's important to give props to the effort of the Huskies, and that starts with Eggebrecht. 

Here's the kicker wih her- she's just a true freshman. Still, that hasn't kept her from leading the team in points per game on the season so far. Clearly, this night was no exception. When you're producing outings like this, it doesn't go unnoticed. Just ask UMD head coach Mandy Pearson. 

"Jada is a super dynamic guard who has a really good feel offensively," Pearson said. 

Still, the Bulldogs were ultimately able to weather the storm of the freshman phenom. 

It wasn't always easy- think back to the first-half lead lost or the constant back-and-fourth action that made up the second half in general. Still, UMD was able to prevail. This is the kind of resolve any coach would love to see, and Pearson is no exception.
 
"They were just tough and really found a way to stick together through the ups and downs of the game," Pearson said. "I'm just so proud of how well they kept their heads up and played hard. They made some great stops at the end of the game, and when a couple of out of bounds calls didn't go our way, they did a great job of having a next play mentality and just moving on."