The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team took to the road to close out this week of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play, falling to the Augustana University Vikings 58-53 after their fourth quarter comeback was cut short.
Final Score: UMD (53) - AU (58)
After falling behind 3-0 to open the game, UMD went on an 8-0 run with 8:23 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Moorjani, to take an 8-3 lead. The Vikings responded to shut out UMD throughout the rest of the period and the Bulldogs entered the second quarter down 13-8.
UMD then cut the Augustana lead to 20-18 before collecting six unanswered points, highlighted by a bucket from Miller, to take a 24-20 lead. The Vikings battled back to even it up at 26-26 heading into the halftime break. UMD dominated in the paint, scoring 12 of its 18 points close to the basket.
The Bulldogs broke the tie in the third quarter, outscoring Augustana 16-14 in the period to seize a 42-40 lead entering the fourth. UMD played well near the basket, scoring eight of its 16 points in the paint.
The Vikings proceeded to take a 51-46 lead before UMD went on a 7-0 run, finished off by Bjorge's layup, to seize a 53-51 lead with 1:26 to go in the contest. Augustana re-asserted control, outscoring the Bulldogs 7-0 the rest of the way to hand UMD the 58-53 loss. The Bulldogs took advantage of four Vikings turnovers in the quarter, scoring six points off of those takeaways.
Bulldog Notes vs. AU
The Bulldogs had four players score in double figures, led by Claire Bjorge, who had 12 points and two blocks. Johanna Miller added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Vanessa Bickford helped out with 10 points off the bench.
UMD shared the ball well in Saturday's game, racking up 16 assists on 22 made field goals. Myra Moorjani's four assists paced the Bulldogs and Maria Counts also added three assists of her own.
Looking Ahead
Bulldog women's basketball (7-16, 5-13 NSIC) will close out their regular season home schedule next weekend, hosting the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons and the Northern State University Wolves on Friday and Saturday. Tip-off against the Dragons is currently set for 7:30 PM.
