Sioux Falls, S.D.- No. 13 UMD women's basketball secured a 72-54 victory over the Cougars in Sioux Falls on Friday. The win pushes the Bulldogs' overall record to a whopping 16-2 and continues their sheer dominance over NSIC competition, leaving their in-conference mark at a perfect 13-0. This also extends UMD's overall win-streak to 12. 

It took a little bit of time for either team to find its wings in this one. By the 6:16 mark, the score was just 5-5. Then, it seemed as if the Cougars were starting to soar- four unanswered points over the span of exactly a minute suddenly left them with a 9-5 advantage with 5:16 on the clock. As it turns out, the Bulldogs were simply lying in wait- they'd respond with a huge 9-3 run of their own to secure their first lead of the night at 14-12. Credit Taya Hakamaki with a big three-pointer to cap off the run. The best part of it all? This shift took less than two minutes for UMD to pull off, situating us at the 3:20 mark of the first frame. 

Sioux Falls would tie things up again, but a Brooke Olson layup would reaffirm UMD's lead at 16-14 with just 1:59 left until quarter two. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Cougars had one more run in them before the end of this frame. In a span of just 41 seconds, Sioux Falls broke off on a 5-0 stretch to help it snag the lead back at 19-16 with 1:18 on the clock. UMD would battle to bring itself back to within a single point, but this unanswered stretch was still enough to allow the Cougars to head into the second quarter with a 21-20 advantage.

Olson had been huge for the Bulldogs through 10 minutes. She already had eight points on a precise 4-6 shooting effort from the field. Hakamaki was also a noticeable force- she ended the quarter with five points to her name. As a team, UMD had had a very efficient outing, going a combined 8-14 (57.1%) from the field.

It was Sioux Falls that started the second frame with a bit of a bang. The Cougars used the first 1:40 of the new quarter to build their lead up to five at a score of 25-20. UMD would respond in-kind with a similar run of a similar duration, potting four-consecutive points over 2:22 of playing time to leave the score at 25-24 Sioux Falls with 5:58 remaining.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce you to the Lexi Karge and Hakamaki show.

The next three minutes and changed belonged to these two Bulldogs. Karge started off the festivities with a bucket to trim the deficit back down to one at 27-26 Sioux Falls. Next, it was Hakamaki's turn to respond to a Cougars score, the junior guard potting a layup to make it 29-28 Sioux Falls. Time to tag in Karge to score once again, the score now 31-30 Cougars. By the time it was Hakamaki's turn once more, it wasn't about responding anymore- it was about making a statement. That's exactly what the guard's ensuing three-ball would do. Just like that, Hakamaki (with major assists from Karge) had propelled the Bulldogs back into the lead at 33-31 with just 2:01 remaining until halftime. Talk about a momentum-building effort. This work was enough to help UMD walk into the break up 36-32.

Olson and Hakamaki continued to top UMD's scoring charts at the half. Olson had 11 points on 5-10 shooting from the field through 20 minutes to go with five rebounds and two assists. Hakamaki had 10 points on 3-4 shooting. 

In what was a methodical opening to the second half, the Cougars slowly-but-surely trimmed into their deficit. By the 6:19 mark, Sioux Falls found itself down a single point at a score of 40-39. It'd been awhile since the Bulldogs had been on a true scoring stretch of their own- this was a pretty good time for one. In under two minutes, UMD rattled off seven-unanswered points to re-fortify its lead to its highest stature of the game thus far at 47-39. Who else could it have been but Karge, who'd played a heroic role earlier in the contest, to cap off this run with a layup. 

But it wasn't time for celebrating just yet- the Cougars had other plans. It wasn't quite in total succession like the Bulldogs' run had been, but Sioux Falls' ensuing 7-2 spurt was still a big one. It was enough to leave the Cougars down just three at a score of 49-46 UMD with just 2:16 until the break. There'd be no massive closing heater for the Bulldogs before halftime, but they'd still do good work to maintain an advantage. Through 20 minutes, the score was 53-48 UMD. 

Olson had been pivotal in the Bulldogs' efforts to expand their control over the game in the third frame. She added 10 more points to her total in the quarter, doing it on 3-4 shooting from the field. To top it off, the graduate guard went a perfect 4-4 from the line.

Yes, the Bulldogs held a two-score advantage going into the final frame, but the Cougars had given them plenty of notice that such a lead wasn't entirely safe- even with just 10 minutes to go. UMD would still have to work just as hard as it had through the opening 30 if it wanted to walk out of Sioux Falls with a W. 

Consider this, though: what if the Bulldogs simply had their best quarter of the entire night to close things out, instead? Sounds like a plan.

The clock read 8:48, but UMD had already doubled its lead to 10 at 58-48. It was the first time either team had held a two-digit advantage. This particular incarnation wouldn't last forever, as the Cougars would respond shortly thereafter to make it 60-52 with 6:52 remaining. Sioux Falls had found itself in a similar position before back at 47-39. It hadn't quite been able to draw even back then, but it had pulled tantalizingly close, within just a bucket of knotting things up. Now was a chance for the Cougars to redeem themselves.

Eh, the Bulldogs weren't particularly big fans of this idea, though. What did sound pretty appealing to them was closing out the game with total dominance. 

At the 6:21 mark, UMD was back up 10 at 62-52. What followed was a sick tick-tack-toe passing play that left Kaylee Nelson with one of the easiest buckets she'll ever score in her life to push the lead to a game-high of 12 at 64-52. Really, after a play like that, we should have known what was coming next- it's like that effort had broken some kind of seal. From the moment the score was 60-52 until the clock read all zeros, the Bulldogs went on an exclamation point of a 12-2 run. You know what they say- it's all about getting hot at the right time.

UMD's fourth quarter was really something to behold. The team shot a whopping 60% (9-15) from the field overall en route to 19 points. Olson led the charge as she had all night with eight more points by way of a 4-7 (57.1%) shooting effort. But it's not often that you can win a game through pure scoring alone- and the Bulldogs certainly played with this knowledge in mind. UMD held Sioux Falls to just 25% (3-12) shooting in the closing 10 minutes of Friday's game. 

What a night it was overall for Olson- this might as well be a scheduled message, at this point. Friday was the scene for the graduate guard's third double-double of the season. She tallied 29 points on 12-21 (57.1%) shooting to go with 11 rebounds. Also cracking double-digits in scoring for UMD was Hakamaki, who had 12 on 4-7 (57.1%) shooting of her own to pair with six rebounds. It was Nelson that ended the night as the team's leading distributor with four assists, a new career-high.

Sioux Falls was led by Brecli Honner, who tallied 11 points on 5-11 (45.5%) shooting. Honner also had four assists, another team-high. Olivia Gamoke wasn't far behind with 10 points and three assists of her own. Madison Wuebben led the charge on the boards with six rebounds to go with nine points. 

POST-GAME WITH PEARSON

We've long-since reached the point where you don't need anyone to tell you that this UMD squad is a special bunch- the numbers do the talking on their own now. But it can still be interesting to learn more and more about how this team is so good. Friday's effort provided a glimpse at one of the factors.

With UMD down 25-24 in the second quarter and still searching for a spark that could really carry it the rest of the way, it was Hakamaki and Karge that had truly pushed the Bulldogs over the edge by weathering the Cougars' continued storm of points with a personal 8-0 run. Fun fact: neither of those players were in the starting five for the Bulldogs on Friday. That's far from an indictment on the talent level of this dynamic duo- it's simply a testament to just how deep this UMD team really is. UMD head coach Mandy Pearson put it best:

"It is so impactful to have multiple players who are talented and can make plays throughout the course of the game," Pearson said. 

We would certainly say so.

And it's a deep group that's been able to take care of business time-and-time again, in all forms and fashions, no matter the location. The fourth quarter of Friday's game was nothing short of a signature example of this fact. Still needing to shew away the Cougars for good, UMD didn't just put up its strongest offensive effort of the night from an efficiency standpoint- it totally shut Sioux Falls' offense down in the process. It's that latter aspect of the Bulldogs' performance that really stood out to Pearson.

"I was so proud of how our team locked down on defense," Pearson said. "Sioux Falls has some really talented offensive players, and I thought our players really locked in on defense to create some momentum for us."