Story by: Zach Koenig
St. Paul, MN—Despite eking out a last-second victory over Northwestern College on January 26, the University of Minnesota-Morris women’s basketball team was unable to produce the same magic the second time around, this time losing 70-58 to their UMAC rival.
Leading scorers for the Cougars were Marissa Maynard (Sr. Blaine, MN) with 17 points and Jamie Rainey (Jr. Maple Grove, MN) with 10. Arielle Anderson (Sr. Wayzata, MN) pulled down four rebounds to lead the defensive effort.
The contest got out of hand early for the Cougars, as Northwestern built a 21-7 lead in the opening minutes of the first half. A jump-shot from Rainey cut the lead to 25-13 with 8:12 remaining, only to see the home team charge back in control 37-16 with 3:00 on the clock.
Points from Diane Blommel (Fr. Grey Eagle, MN) put the halftime score at 42-23 in favor of Northwestern.
Maynard (eight points) led UMM’s first half scoring, with Anderson picking up three rebounds.
The Cougars steadily trimmed down Northwestern’s substantial lead as the second half progressed. Five consecutive points from Kristie Swenstad (So. Osakis, MN) cut the lead to 54-42 with 11:30 remaining, while Blommel and Maynard combined for seven consecutive points to bring Minnesota-Morris within four points (57-53) with 6:00 on the clock.
UMM could not prolong its hot hand, however, as Northwestern promptly drove the score back up to 64-53. Two Anderson free-throws again cut the Cougar deficit to just six points (64-58) with 2:55 remaining, but that was as close as the score would get, leading to the 70-58 final score in favor of Northwestern.
Maynard (nine points) again led the Cougars in scoring during the second half, followed by Rainey (six), Anderson (five), and Alaina Benson (Sr. Clinton, MN) (five).
The Cougars shot 22-52 (42.3%) from the floor during the contest and were outscored 30-14 in points coming off of turnovers.
The loss dropped the Cougars to 6-2 in UMAC competition and 12-6 overall.
 |  |
| Minnesota-Morris | 23 | 35 | 0 | 58 |
| Northwestern | 42 | 28 | 0 | 70 |
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