shortcut to content
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University, Mankato

Latest information about COVID-19 and the campus community

×

Article

Page address: https://web.mnsu.edu/sports/hoopsclub/news/html/2007/whoops_ends_losing_streak.html

Women's Hoops Ends Losing Streak at Minnesota-Duluth

Mavericks unable to slow St. Cloud State's red-hot offense Saturday at home.

by Andrew Miller

Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: Womens Sports

The Minnesota State women's basketball team took two steps forward Thursday night with a 59-55 road win over Minnesota-Duluth.

Unfortunately, they took two steps back Saturday with a 85-69 setback against St. Cloud State at home.

On Saturday, both offenses played up-and-down the court at breakneck pace, but it was the Huskies (15-8 overall, 3-5 NCC) and hot-shooting senior center Ericka Quigley who combined for a blistering 65.3 field-goal percentage to earn the win, despite allowing the Mavericks 27 more field-goal attempts.

Quigley made her presence felt right away, hitting on nine of her first 10 shots and both free throws for 20 points at the half. Substitutions and double-teams proved futile against the All-American.

The Mavericks trailed 48-38 at the half and closed the gap to five points after sophomore guard Heather Johnson connected on a three-pointer with 11:19 left. The Huskies called a 30-second timeout to halt the Mavs' momentum, then rattled off an 11-0 run in the next four minutes to put MSU in the rearview.

"We were right there for a while," Johnson said. "And then we just couldn't execute on anything."

Quigley finished with 33 points on 14-of-16 shooting with 11 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Joanne Noreen and senior guard Alanna Wahl each scored 12 for the Mavericks, while Anna Voltmer added six points and eight rebounds.

"Even when we cut it to five, it never felt like we were with it," said Mavericks head coach Lori Fish. "In all honesty, it just never felt like we were going to get over the hump."

In their win over Minnesota-Duluth (13-9 overall, 4-4 NCC), the Mavericks were led by Johnson's 17 points while sophomore forward Alex Andrews posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Mavs jumped to a 10-point lead after the opening five minutes, but that lead was cut in half at the break. The two teams went bucket-for-bucket in the second half until the Bulldogs pulled even at 54-54 with 3:08 remaining.

After a team timeout, the Mavericks clamped down and allowed just one free throw the rest of the way, cruising to a 59-54 win.

"Having been in those situations before and kind of falling apart, I think we're starting to learn from that," Wahl said.

After the weekend split, the Mavericks now sit at the bottom of the North Central Conference. Though all seven teams make the conference tournament, the top three (excluding the top seed, which receives a bye) will earn first-round home games.

The Mavericks (14-9 overall, 2-6 NCC) travel to No. 16 South Dakota (17-4 overall, 3-3 NCC) Thursday and Nebraska-Omaha (14-7 overall, 2-5 NCC) Saturday.

Andrew Miller is the Reporter Editor in Chief