Minnesota Morris overcame a sluggish start with a 20-2 run midway through the first half, to defeat Crown College for the second time in just eight days, 80-23 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball Saturday at the UMM P.E. Center.
As impressive as a 20-2 run is, UMM had another to top it. The Cougars held the Storm scoreless through the first 11 minutes of the second half, and were on a 25-0 run, dating back to the first half, when Crown finally made their first basket in the second.
Tynell Kocer (So. Pierre, SD) and Alaina Benson (Jr. Clinton, MN) opened up
a 4-0 lead for the Cougars with a pair of scores. A 3-pointer by Crown’s Jenny Moll would tie the game for the Storm 7 minutes in to half, but that was as close to the lead as the Storm would get.
A layup by Coresa Leighty (So. New Ulm, MN) would get the Cougars started on that 20-2 run, which saw Benson score 13 of her 15 first half points.
A score by Bronwyn Weiss at the 6 minute mark would end the 7 and a half minute scoreless streak for the Storm, and the Cougars would take a 41-18 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Cougar’s outscored the Storm 16-0 of the bench in the first half, and scored 14 of their 41 points off turnovers.
The second half wouldn’t be any kinder to Crown, as they were outscored by the Cougars 39-5.
The 19-0 run to start the half was a true team effort, with eight different Cougars getting a chance to score. The run ended with a pair of lay-ups by Kristie Swensted (Fr. Osakis, MN) and a jumper by Tynell Kocer, when Stephanie Zroka finally put Crown on the board, with 8:55 left on the clock.
Crown wasn’t able to add too much more, and the Cougars finished out the win 80-23.
This game was a great example of a team effort, with four players scoring in double figures, and every player that wore a jersey for the Cougars scored at least two points.
Alaina Benson led all scorers with 17. Coresa Leighty added 14, Annika Bergman (Sr. Superior, WI) had 13, and Tynell Kocer contributed 11. Jaime Rainey (So. Maple Grove, MN) also added a game high 11 assists.
The Cougars also had a season low eight turnovers in the game.
Minnesota Morris (9-10, 6-3 UMAC) travels to Minneapolis to take on North Central University on Monday, February 5th at 5:30 in their final non-conference game of the season.
Newspaper Box Score Crown College vs University of Minnesota-Morris 2/3/07 3:00 PM at Minnesota-Morris P.E. Center-Morris, MN At Minnesota-Morris P.E. Center-Morris, MN UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS 80, CROWN COLLEGE 23 CROWN COLLEGE (4-17,0-11 UMAC) STEPHANIE ZROKA 5-21 1-3 11; BRONWYN WEISS 2-5 0-0 4; JENNY MOLL 1-7 0-0 3; BRITTNEY ALVERSON 1-2 1-1 3; MEGAN DELLOS 0-5 2-2 2; JAYME NYTES 0-0 0-0 0; KARRIE MEIXL 0-2 0-0 0; CRYSTAL EWING 0-0 0-0 0; AMY BROWN 0-0 0-0 0; ANGIE HOSTETTER 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 9-43 4-6 23. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-MORRIS (9-10,6-3 UMAC) Benson,Alaina 7-13 2-2 17; Leighty,Coresa 7-13 0-0 14; Bergman,Annika 5-9 1-3 13; Kocer,Tynell 4-14 3-3 11; Odegard,Christina 2-4 3-4 7; Swenstad,Kristie 3-7 0-0 6; Norris,Kara 1-1 3-4 5; Anderson,Arielle 2-3 0-0 4; Maynard,Marissa 1-2 0-0 2; Rainey,Jamie 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 32-67 13-18 80. Crown College................. 18 5 - 23 University of Minnesota-Morris 41 39 - 80 3-point goals-Crown College 1-4 (JENNY MOLL 1-3; KARRIE MEIXL 0-1), University of Minnesota-Morris 3-13 (Bergman,Annika 2-6; Benson,Alaina 1-3; Kocer,Tynell 0-3; Rainey,Jamie 0-1). Fouled out--Crown College-None, University of Minnesota-Morris-None. Rebounds-Crown College 29 (BRITTNEY ALVERSON 8), University of Minnesota-Morris 43 (Leighty,Coresa 9). Assists-Crown College 7 (ANGIE HOSTETTER 3), University of Minnesota-Morris 26 (Rainey,Jamie 11). Total fouls-Crown College 15, University of Minnesota-Morris 13. A-134 Minnesota Morris will take on North Central University this Monday Feburary 5th in Minneapolis at 5:30 PM.