Box Score Records
Upper Iowa (5-13, 4-10) || Minnesota State (13-5, 10-5 NSIC)
Recap
The Upper Iowa Women's Basketball team dug themselves a huge first half hole against the visiting Mavericks of Minnesota State and never recovered. MSU led wire to wire and thanks to 27 points from Ali Wilkinson, the visitors earned a win in Fayette over UIU, 87-61, in conference play.
From the very start, the Peacocks struggled. UIU turned the ball over seven times in the first seven minutes while MSU scored the first 18 points of the game. Twelve of those came from Ali Wilkinson – the Mavericks 6-foot senior post. Finally,
Sam Thrapp cut into the deficit with a free throw, but MSU went back on the attack. At the 12:54 mark in the first half, the Peacocks found themselves in a 27-1 hole.
Upper Iowa's offense finally got going midway through the first half.
Whitney Kieffer scored nine points in a three and a half minute span, while
Carly Pagel and
Lauren Buck added two each. By that time though, the Peacocks trailed by 18 points, 35-17, with 6:36 left in the first half.
Yet despite UIU's run near the end of the period, the Mavericks kept their foot on the gas and held a 22-point lead at the break, 48-26. MSU connected on half of their 34 attempts in the first stanza, while UIU sat at a 37-percent shooting clip. UIU had 11 turnovers in the first half, but it never got better in the second half.
MSU expanded on its already healthy lead in the second half despite an offensive burst from the Peacocks' point guard. Thrapp headed to the free throw line at the 14:47 mark and hit both of her freebies. On the Peacocks' next possession, she added a layup. After MSU answered with a bunny, Thrapp went back to work and added a triple to her stat line – her first of the game. Her quick burst was effective, but UIU was still down by 25 points, 62-37, with 13 minutes to play.
UIU kept up the pressure throughout the second half, but MSU never gave the Peacocks a chance to catch up. After Thrapp's run, MSU used the next minute and a half to go on a 6-0 run and go back up by 31. Two and a half minutes later, the Mavericks had their largest lead of the night at 75-43.
The Peacocks shot 41-percent in the second half, but committed 12 turnovers as MSU coasted to victory. Each team had four players finish in double-figures, but Wilkinson dominated the Peacock defense, hardly missing a shot. The Mavericks' star player went 10-of-12 from the floor and added 10 rebounds to earn a double-double.
Stat of the Game
The 22-point lead held by MSU at the half was the largest deficit the Peacocks have faced after halftime this season.
UIU Standouts
Thrapp (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block), Buck (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), Kieffer (10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block), Pagel (10 points, 4 rebounds)
Up Next
The Peacocks will look ahead to a Minnesota road trip next weekend as they head north to face MSU Moorhead and Northern State next Friday and Saturday.
