Story by: Zach Koenig
St. Paul, MN—Despite a strong performance from Arielle Anderson (Sr. Wayzata, MN), the University of Minnesota-Morris women’s basketball team was defeated 72-49 by Northland College on Friday.
The loss—occurring in the first round of the UMAC postseason tournament—dropped the Cougars out of contention for this year’s UMAC championship.
Anderson led UMM’s scoring with a career high 16 points, while both Coresa Leighty (Jr. New Ulm, MN) and Alaina Benson (Sr. Clinton, MN) contributed eight points.
Leighty also led the Cougars in rebounds during the contest with eight, followed by Anderson with seven and Benson with six. Each Cougar player had at least three rebounds in the game.
A layup from Anderson gave Minnesota-Morris the first points of the contest, but Northland quickly took command and racked up a 20-8 lead.
A free-throw from Tynell Kocer (Jr. Pierre, SD) put the Cougars within nine points (20-11) with 10:32 remaining, but that was as close as UMM would get the rest of the half.
After Northland took a 41-19 lead at 5:54, a three-point play from Marissa Maynard (Sr. Blaine, MN) cut the deficit under 20 points (41-22).
A jump-shot from Leighty provided the final points of the half, with UMM down 46-28.
Anderson (10 points) and Kocer (five) led the first half scoring for the Cougars. Jamie Rainey (Jr. Maple Grove, MN) pulled down three boards in the half.
The Cougars cut their deficit to 14 points (46-32) in the opening minute of the second half on a layup from Leighty. At 15:24, a layup from Anderson moved the Cougars within 12 points (49-37).
However, Northland then went on a 12-2 run to take command of the game once again at 61-40.
Despite points from Leighty, Benson, and Kara Norris (So. Zimmerman, MN) down the stretch, the Cougars could not climb back into the game.
Anderson (six points) led the second half scoring for UMM, while Kristie Swenstad (So. Osakis, MN) had five rebounds.
Minnesota-Morris was just 19-72 (26.4%) shooting from the floor, compared to the 43.6% of Northland.
The Cougars finish the season 15-11 overall and 9-5 in the UMAC.
 | .jpg) |
| Minnesota-Morris | 28 | 21 | 0 | 49 |
| Northland | 46 | 26 | 0 | 72 |
Box Score
