The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team has earned an unbeaten three-win start to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) competition after holding off Minnesota State University Moorhead in overtime, 73-69.
Leading the charge for the Bulldogs was
Claire Bjorge with 17 points. She also tallied eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal while shooting 55.6% (5-9) from the free throw line.
Grace Counts was the next highest scorer with 14 points, while
Vanessa Bickford followed with 10.
The first quarter saw
Lexi Karge break through for the first layup of the match, 21 seconds in. After that, the Dragons tied it up on an unanswered five-point run. UMD regained the lead for the remainder of the quarter (eight minutes) off the efforts of
Grace Counts,
Myra Moorjani, Reagan Krueger, Bjorge,
Vanessa Bickford, and
Maria Counts to hold a 16-13 advantage into the second quarter.
The first four minutes saw an even 7-7 scoring run, holding the Bulldog lead at 23-20. A defensive battle began as the next score did not come until 3:53 remained when Bickford connected with Counts for a three-point shot to earn a 26-20 lead. For the remainder of the quarter, the Dragons narrowly outscored the Bulldogs five to four to leave the score at 30-25 into the halftime break.
Coming out of the break, the Bulldogs used their 47.37% accuracy from the field to fire ahead to a 13-point lead by the end of the third quarter. Entering the fourth quarter with a 51-38 lead, the Dragons would continually chip away at the Bulldogs until a gap of three points existed with 4:39 remaining. The Bulldogs in that time only scored four points between Bjorge and Karge to allow the Dragons back in at 55-52. The final three minutes of regulation saw MSUM claw ahead for the first time since the first quarter, with Karge and Bjorge again being the only scorers for UMD. Regulation would end at 61-61 to force a five-minute overtime.
In response, Fritz forced a layup 19 seconds in to give the Bulldogs the lead for the duration. Moorjani, Bickford, and Bjorge combined for 10 points to hold off the Dragons' eight points to win the match in overtime 73-69.
Overall, the team shot 37.5% (27-72) from the field, 16.7% (4-24) beyond the arc, and 75% (15-20) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs forced more points in the paint (40) and points off turnovers (26) than the Dragons, with 26 (points in the paint) and 16 (points off turnovers). UMD was able to overcome being outrebounded by MSUM on both sides of the court, with 33 total rebounds to their 48. Karge led the team in rebounds with nine (four offensive).
UMD continues to compete on the road on Thursday against Northern State University inside Wachs Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
