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Box Score
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Morris, Minn. – The Minnesota, Morris women's basketball team cruised tonight (Dec. 2), claiming a 77-51 win over visiting North Central on Jim Gremmels Court.

The highlight of the night came early for the Cougars, as senior forward Steph Roggenbuck (Osakis, Minn.) scored the 1,000th point of her college career with her first bucket of the night. Just 2:10 into the game, a lay-in from the left side of the net put her at the millennium mark, after a year of junior college and three stellar seasons at UMM.

Roggenbuck would go on to score 16 total points on the night and lead the Cougars as they had four players finish in double figures.

Emily Mehr (Aitkin, Minn.) (13), Tara Thielke (Hancock, Minn.) (11) and Jenni Noordmans (Hancock, Minn.) (10) all hit double-digits, as the Cougars had one of their best offensive performances of the season. The 77 points scored are the second best this season, while the 26-point margin of victory is a season high.

The Cougars (3-3) ran off the first 14 points of the game, taking a 14-0 lead before the Rams even got on the board. After a pair of free throws made it 14-2, the Rams (0-5) finally had their first field goal at the 14:57 mark, making the score 16-4.
 
The Cougars opened by making better than 55% of their shots in the first half – one of their best halves of the season – before finishing with a .411 (23-of-56) mark for the game. Conversely, they held the Rams to just 16 field goals on the night, and a 35% mark from the floor.

Leading the hot-shooting charge was Roggenbuck, who did her damage on a 6-of-8 night. She hit the only three-pointer she tried, and made three of her four free throws. The Cougars went to the line 29 times on the night, making good on 25 attempts.
 
Minnesota, Morris ran its lead out to as much as 23 in the first half, before taking a 47-27 lead into the locker rooms at intermission. They led by as much as 29 in the second half, and led by 20 or more for the last 19:31.
 
The overmatched Rams were dominated on the boards, as the Cougars limited them to just eight in the first half while pulling down 20 of their own.

For the game, the Cougars finished with 37 rebounds, their second best mark of the season, as well as held 37-to-26 advantage over the Rams in the category, also the second best tally of the year.

This marks the second win of the season over the North Central for UMM, joining their 84-65 win in Minneapolis in the season opener.

Having snapped their three-game losing streak, the Cougars will go back on the road as they look for their second straight win.

On Dec. 7, the Cougars travel to Jamestown, looking to avenge their loss from just two weeks prior. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.