The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team earned its 12th Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) victory after mounting a 23-point fourth quarter to overcome Winona State University on Friday.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was
Myra Moorjani with 18 points. She tallied two steals, three assists, and went 53.8% (7-13) from the field.
Entering the match, the Bulldogs fell behind 6-2 with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.
Claire Bjorge and Moorjani combined to tie the game up over the next minute before another score from the Warriors put them behind again. The Bulldogs then went on a 5-3 scoring run to chip back to a tie before the end of the quarter.
The second quarter saw the Bulldogs flip the script and get out ahead first on a 7-4 scoring run off the efforts of
Ashley Fritz (3),
Maria Counts (2), and
Lexi Karge (2) for an 18-15 lead with 7:05 to go. UMD maintained a narrow lead at 21-20 into the halftime break after a 5-3 scoring run by WSU.
In the third quarter, Winona put UMD on the backfoot in the first five minutes on an 11-7 run that put the score at 31-28. The trend continued as the Bulldogs put up only eight more points as the Warriors took a 45-36 advantage into the final quarter.
The Bulldogs started the final period going 3-4 beyond the arc with three-pointers from Moorjani, Counts, and Karge to inch back in at 52-47 with 5:36 to go. UMD continued with a 9-2 scoring run over the next four minutes, climbing ahead 56-54 with 49 seconds left. A set of free throws with 18 seconds left by Winona looked to tie the game up, but only one met the bottom of the net. Moorjani and
Karly Jusczak combined for the final points of the game to seal the score at 59-55.
Overall, the team mounted a 23-point fourth quarter to get out ahead of Winona after trailing by nine points to end the third quarter. The fourth quarter was lifted by shooting 50% (7-14) from the field, 57.14% (4-7) beyond the arc, and 62.50% (5-8) from the free-throw line. UMD lost the overall rebounding battle 39-28 while Counts led the team individually with nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs continue the homestand tomorrow against Concordia University St. Paul at 3:30 p.m. inside Romano Gymnasium.
