The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team opened up their road weekend in North Dakota tonight, winning the rebound battle 38-32 despite falling to the University of Mary Marauders 71-59.

Final Score: UMD (59) - UM (71)

After falling behind 9-7 to open the night, UMD went on a 5-0 run with 5:31 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Maria Counts, to take a 12-9 lead. The Bulldogs surrendered that lead in the final minutes of the period and entered the second quarter down 17-14.

UM kept adding to their lead, building a 29-20 advantage before UMD collected five unanswered points, highlighted by a three from Grace Counts, to narrow its deficit to 29-25. UM responded and expanded its lead, leaving the Bulldogs trailing 38-27 heading into the halftime break.

The Marauders continued to increase their lead after halftime, building a 41-27 advantage before UMD went on a 6-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Vanessa Bickford, to trim its deficit to 41-33 with 7:09 to go in the third. UM countered and stretched its lead to 55-43 heading into the fourth. The Bulldogs played well near the basket, scoring 10 of their 16 points in the paint in the quarter.

UM continued to widen the lead in the fourth, constructing a 60-47 advantage before UMD collected another five unanswered points, finished off by a Karge three, to shrink the deficit to 60-52 with 7:38 to go in the contest. The Marauders responded and outscored the Bulldogs the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 71-59.

Bulldog Notes vs. UM

The Bulldogs had three players score in double figures, led by Myra Moorjani, who had 14 points and two steals. Johanna Miller added 13 points and seven rebounds and Lexi Karge helped out with 10 points.

Miller pulled down four offensive rebounds to lead an offense that racked up 11 total offensive boards and turned them into nine second chance points.

The UMD defense caused its share of problems throughout the game, forcing 14 Marauder turnovers. Those takeaways turned into 17 points on the offensive end of the floor. Moorjani's two steals led the way individually for the Bulldogs.

Looking Ahead

Bulldog women's basketball (7-11, 5-8) looks towards game two of the weekend tomorrow against the Minot State University Beavers. Tip-off against the Beavers is currently set for 5:30 PM.