Box Score
DULUTH, MN - After trailing by 24 points to the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth on Friday night, the Upper Iowa women’s basketball team used a 17-0 run to pull within just seven points with 1:54 left.
Lindsay Carroll came off the bench and drained back-to-back treys to cap that big UIU run, but the deficit was too large to overcome as UMD held on for the 65-53 NSIC victory.
The loss drops the Peacocks to 4-13 in conference play and 7-17 overall, while the win, gives the Bulldogs an 11-10 overall recprd and an 8-9 mark in NSIC play.
Carly Pagel led UIU in both scoring and rebounding with 16 total points on 7-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds, but the freshman’s second career double-double wasn’t enough to propel the Peacocks past the Bulldogs.
It was clear the Peacocks wanted to go to Pagel early in the game, but both teams struggled shooting the ball in the opening minutes. UIU hit just three of its first 11 shots and had four turnovers in the opening ten minutes of action, while the Bulldogs missed nine of their first 11 shots.
As both teams shook off the nerves, Pagel found the bottom of the net and tied the game at 8-8 with 10:53 left in the first half. On UIU’s next possession,
Chelsea Garcia gave the Peacocks their first lead of the night with a layup at the 10:10 mark.
The Bulldogs’ Jessica Newman tied the game at 10-10 with a jumper before Garcia responded with two free throws. Her two points from the charity stripe gave the Peacocks a 12-10 lead with 8:34 left in the opening half, but that was the last lead UIU would see in the game.
UMD closed the first half on a 19-11 run capped by a buzzer-beating, 19-foot bucket from Courtney Doucette.
The Peacocks were slowed by eight first half turnovers as UMD took a 29-23 lead into halftime.
Despite Pagel reaching double-digit scoring numbers early in the second half with a bucket in the paint, the Bulldogs started the second half on an 11-2 run.
Averaging 15.6 points per game coming into the game, the Bulldogs’ Katrina Newman earned her keep for UMD in the second half against the Peacocks. She hit back-to-back buckets to put the Bulldogs up, 40-27, just three and a half minutes into the second period.
Almost five minutes later, Newman was fouled and she went to the line. After making one-of-two free throws at the line, the Bulldogs earned a steal on the defensive end which led to another Newman bucket, this time on the fast-break. Newman finished with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting.
Ten UIU turnovers in the first nine minutes of the second half helped UMD extend its lead to double figures. The Bulldogs led by as much as 24 points, 58-34, with just 6:50 left in the game.
But that’s when UIU kicked it into gear. The Peacocks’ defense held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly four minutes as the offense went on a 17-0 run.
Olivia Meier,
Lauren Buck and
Sam Thrapp all had a bucket during that run, but Pagel and Carroll combined for 10 of those 17 points.
Coming into the game, the Peacocks were struggling to connect from downtown. UIU was just 2-of-30 from long range since halftime of their contest with MSU Moorhead last Friday night. That cold-shooting trend continued into Friday night as the Peacocks were 0-for-12 from downtown 38 minutes into their match with the Bulldogs. Carroll changed that stat in a hurry as she hit back-to-back treys to cap UIU's 17-0 run and pull the Peacocks within seven, 58-51, with 1:54 left.
Her second three-pointer came just 24 seconds after the first, but UIU couldn’t withstand the run.
The Bulldogs closed out the game with a 7-2 run of their own and they earned the win, 65-53.
UIU will now try to bounce back on Saturday night in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Both the Peacocks and the Huskies of St. Cloud State will try to get back to winning ways after the Warriors of Winona State defeated SCSU, 71-69, on Friday night.
Click here to read the preview of that game.
