CROOKSTON, Minn. – True freshman
Aubrey Morrison turned in a stellar outing on both ends to help guide Minnesota State Moorhead women's basketball to victory on Saturday. The Dragons claimed a slugfest against Minnesota Crookston, 63-48.
Moorhead would be quick to initiate offense as
Adie Wagner would score five of MSUM's first seven points to lead 7-4.
Caylin Kelly converted on a midrange attempt in the same stretch for the Dragons.
The strategy for the Golden Eagles appeared simple: force the Dragons to make jump shots. Minnesota Crookston employed a zone defense from the jump in hopes of eliminating post touches. While Minnesota Crookston would battle back to take an 11-7 lead, a triple from
Ashton Safranski found all net to get the Dragons within a point. Safranski would strike again shortly after a media timeout, putting MSUM back up by two, 13-11. The Dragons led 15-13 after one quarter behind Safranski's six points.
As Safranski collected her second foul early in the second quarter, it was
Aubrey Morrison who stepped in for Moorhead. The true freshman drilled a pair of long-range shots to keep the Moorhead lead at one point, 21-20. MSUM would retain a one-point lead midway through the quarter after a driving basket from
Ayelishka Teko-Folly.
The Dragons would put together a strong final two minutes, concluding on a 7-0 run. Morrison knocked in another triple before Kelly and
Terryn Johnson scored late for Moorhead. MSUM led 34-26 at halftime led by nine points from Morrison. Kelly, Safranski and Johnson each scored six points for Moorhead in the half. The long-range shot helped lift the Dragons through 20 minutes, converting on six of 10 attempts against the Golden Eagle zone.
Minnesota Crookston would opt to matchup on defense to open the second half to combat the Dragon shooters. Despite the switch up on defense, Moorhead would continue to hold an eight-point lead three minutes into the third quarter. The switch in defense opened up the offense for Johnson, who scored four straight to stretch the Dragon lead into double figures (42-32).
The Golden Eagles went back into their zone defense following the surge from the senior. This time, it helped allow Minnesota Crookston to chip into the Dragon lead, cutting the deficit to three points (44-41). MSUM would carry a 48-41 lead into the final quarter led by 14 points from Johnson.
Morrison would jumpstart the Dragons again in the final quarter, hitting on her fourth three-pointer of the contest. The freshman would successfully convert an and-one on the ensuing possession to provide Moorhead a 54-41 lead. A returning
Abby Berge would put the Dragons up by 14 points with just over six minutes to play.
From there, MSUM would hold Minnesota Crookston scoreless for over five minutes, allowing them to build a 63-44 lead. Moorhead claimed the win 63-48 behind a collegiate-best 19 points from Morrison. The freshman also led the defensive effort on UMC star Emma Miller, who scored 17 points on 36.3 percent shooting (0-7 from three). Johnson was exceptional as well, netting 18 points with 10 rebounds for her 23
rd career double-double. Kelly added 10 points and six rebounds for the Dragons, who held the Golden Eagles to just 31 percent shooting for the game.
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MSUM (7-5, 4-4 NSIC) is back on the road for conference meetings with Concordia-St. Paul and Winona State next weekend.
