Story by: Zach Koenig
New Ulm, MN—Despite Alaina Benson (Sr. Clinton, MN) scoring the 1,000th point of her collegiate career, the University of Minnesota-Morris women’s basketball team came up a few points short in a 77-74 loss on Friday.
The Cougars did see three players score in double-digits during the contest: Benson with 24, Coresa Leighty (Jr. New Ulm, MN) with 15, and Marissa Maynard (Sr. Blaine, MN) with 13.
With her 24 points, Benson became the 16th player in Cougar women's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point plateau as she has 1,005 heading into the MLC game.
Leighty also pulled down 10 rebounds in the game, followed by Diane Blommel (Fr. Grey Eagle, MN) with eight.
Starting with the opening points of the game, scored on a jump-shot from Arielle Anderson (Sr. Wayzata, MN), the Cougars took a lead they would hold for most of the first half.
The lead was extended to nine points (17-8) on a jumper from Kristie Swenstad (So. Osakis, MN) with 12:29 remaining. By 6:04, the home team had battled back to take a slim 22-21 lead, only to see the Cougars re-take the lead with a Benson jumper.
From that point, however, Martin Luther surged in front once again and took a 35-30 lead into the half.
Benson (12 points) led the first-half scoring for the Cougars. Leighty scored six points and nabbed six rebounds in the half.
The lead changed hands multiple times in the opening minutes of the second half. A jumper from Benson gave Minnesota-Morris a 47-46 lead with 13:41 on the clock, but Martin Luther took the lead right back and held it until the closing minutes of the contest.
A jumper from Tynell Kocer (Jr. Pierre, SD) put the Cougars within one point (53-52) with 9:03 remaining, but UMM did not pull even until two Leighty free-throws knotted the score at 64-64 with 2:36 left.
Martin Luther took a 73-66 lead into the final 36 seconds of the contest, but two free-throws from Maynard and two three-point shots from Benson put the score at 75-74 in favor of the home team with just three seconds remaining.
The Cougars were then forced to foul Martin Luther and watch helplessly as Jamie Boldt sank two free-throws for the 77-74 victory.
Benson (12 points) and Maynard (11) led the second-half scoring for UMM.
Minnesota-Morris shot at a 27-75 (36%) clip from the floor, but was outscored 19-16 in points coming off of turnovers and 31-11 off the bench.
 |  |
| Minnesota-Morris | 30 | 44 | 0 | 74 |
| Martin Luther | 35 | 42 | 0 | 77 |
Box Score
