Duluth, Minn.- No. 10 UMD women's basketball secured a resounding 74-54 win against Wayne State in Romano on Friday. It's just full steam ahead for these Bulldogs- they're currently on a 14-game winning streak. Considering this heater started right around the time NSIC play kicked off… yep, UMD's perfect in conference play at 15-0. All-told, this titan of a team now enjoys an 18-2 record.
It was far from a foregone conclusion that UMD would continue its winning ways in the early stages of Friday's bout. The Bulldogs and the Wildcats battled throughout an opening quarter that saw six total ties and four lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points through the first 10 minutes. Ultimately, it was UMD that happened to find itself in control by the quarter's end, up two at a score of 20-18.
Attribute half of the Bulldogs' tallies through the first frame to Brooke Olson, who just refuses to slow down. Those 10 early points came on 4-5 shooting from the field, too. The graduate forward paired them with three assists and three rebounds.
It's a really, really bad idea to let this UMD squad develop any kind of momentum. Wayne State did great work to limit that through 10 minutes, but it was simply delaying the inevitable. It took the Bulldogs just 1:15 of playing time in quarter two to go on a 6-0 run and secure a 26-18 advantage. Credit to the Wildcats, as they were able to mitigate the ensuing damage for quite some time to at least keep themselves afloat for most of the second frame. Then, Taytum Rhoades decided it was time to capsize the boat entirely. The junior guard sank two-straight threes to eventually give UMD the first double-digit lead of the night at 35-25 with 4:35 remaining in the frame. The Bulldogs wouldn't just maintain that two-digit advantage going into the break- they'd gradually build upon it. When halftime finally rolled around, UMD had a commanding 45-27 foothold on the contest.
The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats a whopping 25-9 in quarter two. It helps that UMD's offense was humming from an efficiency standpoint- the team shot 10-14 (71.4%) from the field through 10 minutes. Not only that, but the Bulldogs had been electric from distance, going 4-6 from deep. Meanwhile, Wayne State had been held to just 3-11 (27.3%) shooting in the second quarter.
Olson still led UMD offensively at the break, sitting with 14 points on 6-7 shooting to go with six rebounds and four assists. After the second quarter, though, the graduate forward suddenly found a teammate right behind her in the scoring race: Rhoades. Rhoades had been absolutely automatic in quarter number two, putting up nine points on perfect 3-3 shooting from deep. That was enough to leave her with 12 points overall on a 4-4 outing from beyond the arc. The junior guard also had two assists through 20 minutes.
Kudos have to be given for the Wildcats for fighting all the way through in this one, an effort that saw max payoff when they were able to trim their deficit back down to as little as 10 at a score of 55-55 with just 1:44 remaining. It seemed like a slow-but-steady grind to eliminate a two-digit UMD hold that had lasted all quarter to that point might finally pay off- wrong. A Hakamaki three re-upped the ante to 13 at 58-45. Madelyn Granica potted a layup to push that to 15. As a cherry on top, Kaylee Nelson sank a three of her own. Just like that, a quick 8-0 run left the Bulldogs back up 18 at 63-45 heading into the final frame.
Hakamaki had been big for the Bulldogs in quarter three, leading the team with 7 points on 3-5 shooting while grabbing three boards, dishing out two assists and snagging a steal. Olson still wasn't far behind with six more points being added to her tally.
Coincidentally, it took Olson exactly 20 seconds to at long last blossom UMD's lead up to 20 at a score of 65-45. From there, the rest was just about history. The Bulldogs' lead in this one would grow to as high as 26, last at a score of 74-48. They simply had no interest in trailing. The best a 6-0 Wayne State run to close the game out could do was trim the final deficit back down to 20 at 74-54. Closing stretch aside, the Wildcats shot just 1-11 from the field in the fourth quarter, a 9.1% clip.
Hakamaki had a second half to remember. The junior guard tallied her 10 points on a hyper-efficient 4-5 shooting mark while continuing to fulfill her duties as a do-it-all guard, grabbing three rebounds, tallying three assists and forcing a steal.
Another day, another wild Olson statline. The graduate forward tallied her fourth double-double of the year with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Those 22 points came on a remarkable 9-12 shooting effort from the field. Why not add four assists and four (!!) blocks for some extra zest? And Hakamaki had herself a pretty good game, too. The junior guard left Friday with 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Rhoades was remarkable from deep in this one, all 12 of her points coming by way of a 4-7 shooting night from beyond the arc. That performance was enough to leave her just 13 points shy of 500 on her career with a chance to hit the milestone at home on Saturday.
The Wildcats were led by Lauren Zacharias, who put up 12 points to go with three steals. Meg Reitz and Logan Hughes tied for the team lead in rebounds with four.
