The University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball team overcame a low shooting accuracy in the first quarter to trounce the University of Minnesota Crookston 71-51 in their final regular-season road matchup of the season.
With the win, UMD stands atop the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) North Division by two wins with one home matchup to go, but the University of Mary still has two games to play later this week with the chance to split the title.
Senior forward
Lexi Karge joined the 1,000 career points club off a five-point effort. She is the first Bulldog to hit that mark since Brooke Olson in the 2020-21 season.
Leading the victory for the Bulldogs was
Claire Bjorge with 20 points, two steals, six assists, and one rebound. She hit 60% (9-15) from the field and 66.7% (2-3) from the free-throw line.
The first quarter saw both teams struggle shooting as the Bulldogs hit a low 23.1% (3-13) from the field and none (0-7) from beyond the arc, with the Golden Eagles earning 23.5% (4-17) and 20% (1-5) beyond the arc. Both teams settled for an even nine points by the end of the first quarter.
UMD finally broke free from Minnesota Crookston after
Karly Jusczak led the Bulldogs on a 15-6 run with 10 points. With a 24-15 lead and five minutes before the halftime break,
Ashley Fritz (3),
Myra Moorjani (3),
Grace Counts (2), and Bjorge (2) combined for a 10-point run to force a 34-21 lead into halftime.
The dominance continued entering the third quarter as the Bulldogs climbed to a 21-point lead off the effort of Bjorge (6),
Maria Counts (3), Moorjani (2), and
Lexi Karge (2). With a 47-26 lead and under five minutes to go, the Bulldogs eased up with only a 10-8 scoring run to expand marginally to a 57-36 lead into the final quarter.
The final 10 minutes saw the Bulldogs hold off the Golden Eagles on a 15-14 final effort with Bjorge (5), Fritz (3), Moorjani (2),
Vanessa Bickford (2), and Jusczak (2), forcing the 71-51 score.
Overall, the Bulldogs hit 49.1% (27-55) from the field, 21.7% (5-23) beyond the arc, and 85.7% (12-14) from the free throw line.
UMD heads back to Romano Gymnasium Saturday for its final regular-season matchup against Minnesota State University Moorhead. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m.
