CROOKSTON, Minn. — Despite a career-high 15 points from freshman guard
Jacky Volkert, the Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team fell at Minnesota Crookston, 71-60.
MSUM, which saw a four-game winning streak end, fell to 12-4 overall and 9-4 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while UMC improved to 13-4 overall and 10-3 in the league.
Volkert finished 6-of-9 from the field and added two steals on her way to her career-high. Senior forward
Heather Strese had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore forward
Drew Sannes had 12 points, two blocks and eight rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. Junior guard
Jessica Hart led with four assists while chipping in with eight points.
MSUM shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) for the game while the Golden Eagles shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57). The big difference in the game was three-point shooting, as Minnesota Crookston went 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) compared to 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) for MSUM. The Dragons had a slight 39-38 edge in rebounds.
The Dragons faced a 12-2 deficit four minutes into the game, but battled back to within 17-13 late in the first after a Strese bucket. Later in the half, a basket by Hart cut the lead to 32-30, which was the halftime score.
Volkert had 11 first-half points to pace MSUM.
The Golden Eagles opened the second half by scoring the first seven points to take a 39-30 lead, and led by as many as 17 points in the second half on their way to the win.
Junior guard
Morgan Banasik had seven points, two assists and two steals for MSUM.
MSUM wraps up the weekend Saturday at Bemidji State. Tipoff is 4 p.m. in Bemidji, Minn.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons entered tonight in first place in the NSIC North at the 12-game mark. The last time the Dragons were in first place after a dozen league games was in the 2006-07 season (10-2) that saw the Dragons finish 21-10 overall, 13-5 in NSIC play, and the squad made an NCAA appearance for the second time in three years.