The Upper Iowa women's basketball team saw their 2019-20 campaign end on Wednesday evening with an 81-54 loss to the North Division's top-seeded University of Minnesota Duluth in the first round the NSIC/Sanford Health Women's Basketball Tournament. The Peacocks gave it everything they had in the first 25 minutes against the Bulldogs, but the reigning NSIC Regular Season Champions stepped on the gas late in the third and never looked back. Upper Iowa finishes the season with a 3-26 overall mark, while Minnesota Duluth remained undefeated at home and improved to 24-5 overall. 

With the win, the Bulldogs advance to the quarterfinals to take on Northern State University. The Wolves, the No. 5 seed in the NSIC North, defeated Concordia University, St. Paul 72-68 in overtime.

• After Minnesota Duluth captured a 12-5 advantage fueled by a 10-0 surge in the opening minutes, Upper Iowa battled back to tie the game with a 7-0 run. The Bulldogs were then able to hit 4-of-6 three-pointers to end the quarter ahead 24-14.
• The Peacocks opened the second frame with a 13-4 run capped off by a triple from Brooke Evenson to cut the deficit to just one, 28-27, with 4:05 left in the half. After a jumper from UMD, Evenson hit another three to tie the game and Jessica Musgrave laid in the go-ahead bucket as the Peacocks captured their first lead since the opening basket. A 5-0 spurt by the home team put the Bulldogs up 35-32 going into the break.
• Upper Iowa opened the second half with the same intensity as the second quarter. After Minnesota Duluth scored on its opening possession, Upper Iowa mounted a 10-5 run fueled by eight points from Natalie Dinius to tie the game at 42-all. Things then began to crumble for the Peacocks as the Bulldog defense held UIU to just one basket in the final five minutes while the offense added 21 points to the scoreboard for a 63-45 lead. Upper Iowa did not have any more gas left in the tank and was outscored 18-9 in the final quarter.

• Brooke Evenson led the Peacocks with a career-high 16 points thanks to 6-of-7 shooting overall and 4-of-5 shooting from deep. She also added four rebounds
• Natalie Dinius hit 3-of-7 long-range attempts and a jumper for 11 points
• Jessica Musgrave scored nine points while tallying five rebounds and four assists
• Megan Peterson and Erica Armstrong each added five rebounds, while Marina Peinado dished out four assists

• Upper Iowa shot 50.0 from downtown throughout the contest, the highest shooting efficiency since hitting that mark in the first round of last year's NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament against Minnesota State University Moorhead 
• In the final 15 minutes of the contest, Upper Iowa was outscored 39-12. The Peacocks were held to 11.8 percent shooting from the floor and committed 10 of their 17 turnovers. 
• Minnesota Duluth scored 28 points off Upper Iowa's turnovers including 18 in the second half