The No. 15 UMD women's basketball team rolled through tonight's meeting with Upper Iowa, defeating the Peacocks with a final score of 76-48. The win pushes the Bulldogs to 14-2 on the season and a still-perfect 11-0 in NSIC play. UMD also extended its current overall win streak to double-digits at 10. 

All these impressive figures, but it was one not yet mentioned that certainly stole the show on Friday. 

It was a historical night for Brooke Olson. The graduate forward scored her 2000th career point in a Bulldog uniform, becoming only the third player in UMD women's basketball history to surpass that mark. She joins the ranks of Lindsey Dietz and Gina Kangas in this regard. In fact, those are now the only two women to sit in front of Olson in the Bulldogs' all-time scoring race. 

Olson and company started the game on the right note, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. Kaylee Nelson contributed five points during that opening run. The Peacocks didn't let things get out of reach, however, as they slowly chipped away. In fact, an Upper Iowa score with 1:35 remaining in the first quarter gave the Peacocks their first lead by a score of 14-13. Ella Gilbertson was able to answer back as the quarter came to a close, assisting Olson on a three and scoring a lay-up of her own. This fresh 5-0 run put the Bulldogs back on top 18-14 heading into the second quarter.

Quarter number two found the two teams in lockstep with each other in terms of scoring pace for much of its runtime. The Bulldogs never trailed in the frame- the best the Peacocks were able to do was knot things up at 22 apiece with 6:58 remaining. Still, UMD was never able to build much in terms of a substantial lead, either. That is until there was 4:40 remaining and the Bulldogs suddenly found themselves up eight at a score of 32-24 off the back of a Nelson three-pointer. That'd left UMD on a 10-2 run since the last time the score had been tied. 

And in spite of the best efforts of the Peacocks, The Bulldogs' lead was still eight with just 1:45 left until half, the score sitting at 36-28. And things wouldn't get much better for Upper Iowa down the stretch.  Steals by Olson and Maesyn Thiesen gave UMD a boost of energy on the other end. As a byproduct of this defensive intensity, Olson and Taytum Rhoades got aggressive in attacking the basket and drew fouls, leading to four combined points at the charity stripe. This disciplined work at the line allowed UMD to enter the half break 10 at 38-28. 

Olson led in the scoring column for Duluth at halftime. She scored 10 points and corralled five rebounds. Nelson went a perfect 3-3 from the field, including two huge threes, en route to eight first-half points. Gilbertson also provided eight points, hers coming on 4-7 shooting Rhoades paired her six points on 2-2 shooting from the field with two assists and four rebounds. Speaking of boards, Thiesen already had six rebounds to her name through 20 minutes. 

As a team, UMD displayed an excellent defensive performance in half one, holding the Peacocks to a mere 10-31 (32.3%) team shooting effort from the field.

At the midway mark, Olson was 15 points shy of history- and she looked pretty determined to make it at the start of the second half. Nine seconds into the frame, she canned a top-of-the-key triple. Two offensive possessions later, she converted on a lay-up. Two possessions after that score, she got another low-post bucket. The graduate forward had come out firing, scoring UMD's first seven points of the frame. It took her just under two and a half minutes. The score was now 45-32 UMD. 

With 5:47 left before the start of the last quarter, Rhoades snagged a steal before assisting Thiesen on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 fastbreak. In a game where UMD had had the upper hand most of the way, this basket opened the floodgates. It was already 48-36… but Thiesen's score would be the first in a 14-4 Duluth run. During this nail-in-the-coffin stretch, Olson kept pushing, scoring the final six points of the quarter for Duluth. Up by 20 points, 60-40, heading into the last quarter, UMD had some well-earned breathing room.

The Bulldog domination continued into and throughout the final frame. A little over a minute into the fourth, Olson assisted Myra Moorjani on her first bucket of the game. Two minutes later, Olson scored another bucket of her own on a pretty move with her back to the basket. Seemed pretty unsuspecting for the graduate forward, though, something she'd done hundreds and hundreds of times as a Bulldog. However… this one was a little different. It was point 25 of the night. It was the key to the 2K club. Coincidentally, it was also a ticket to the line- what better way to hit a milestone than by generating an and-one opportunity. 

 After soaking in some well-deserved ovation, that'd be about it for Olson on this night. It was the end of the road for most of UMD's starters on Friday by this point. The Bulldogs had built a large enough lead to call to the bench to help finish the contest. Ani Tschida, for example, checked in and scored on a fastbreak lay-up. Even redshirt junior Abby Johnson checked in for the first time in a Bulldog Uniform. She had an immediate impact, too, grabbing a rebound and snagging a steal. 

Starters or rotational pieces, it didn't make much of a difference for the Bulldogs on Friday. They ended up winning this one 76-48.

UMD was led (fittingly) by Olson, who scored 30 points on impressive 11-18 (61.1%) shooting from the field and 4-6 (66.7%) shooting from deep. She also chased down seven rebounds, stole the ball four times and dished out three assists to make this historical night all the more memorable.  Rhoades scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting, adding six rebounds and three assists. Gilbertson provided 10 points on 5-8 (62.5%) shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Nelson didn't quite crack the double-digit club with nine points on the night, but those tallies came on efficient 3-3 shooting from the field. 

As a team, UMD shot 30-57 (52.6%) from the field while holding the Peacocks to just an 18-56 (32.1%) mark.

Upper Iowa's leading scorer was Mia Huberty, who provided 10 points for her team. Lexie Lodermeier and Lydia Haack had eight points apiece. All three players added four rebounds to their scoring totals. 

WHATS NEXT?

UMD continues its home stand tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 14) against Winona State. The Bulldogs are set to tip-off against the Warriors at 3:30 p.m. It'll be a dual-headliner of themes in Romano, as it's both 80s Night and Blackout Night. If you're into basketball and people-watching, Romano's the place for you on Saturday afternoon.