New Ulm, Minn. – The Minnesota Morris women's basketball team put together a second half surge that led to an 81-59 win this afternoon (Jan. 22) over host Martin Luther.
The Cougars (9-6, 5-0 UMAC) led the entire way, but took just a five point advantage into the locker rooms at 30-25. In the second half they turned up the heat and shot 68% (19-of-28) from the field while turning the game into a runaway.
Martin Luther (3-10, 2-3 UMAC) struggled from the floor all night, making just 32% (20-of-62) of their field goals, and hit at a mere 59% (13-of-22) clip from the free throw line.
The Cougars held the Knights to a 30% shooting mark in the first half – limiting them to just nine field goals – but was only able to take a five point lead into halftime. UMM opened the game on an 11-0 run, capped by a Steph Roggenbuck (Osakis, Minn.) lay-up at the 16:19 mark. Less than two minutes later, it was Roggenbuck again, this time with a three to stretch the lead to its biggest of the half at 14-2 with 14:50 left to play.
From there though, the Knights began to chip away, and twice got the score within three, including at the 2:47 mark after they scored five straight points to close the gap.
The Cougars' Brandi Cresap (Perham, Minn.) quickly answered with a three on the other end to put her team up six, and at the end of the half a Roggenbuck free throw ended the scoring.
Roggenbuck finished with a game high 23 points, including 12 in the first half, while Cresap ended the night with six points as well as a game high six assists.
After the Knights opened the scoring in the second half, the Cougars responded and quickly went up by 14 points with a 13-to-3 run, stamped by a Jenni Noordmans (Hancock, Minn.) three that made the score 43-29 at the 16:23 mark.
From there the Cougars put it in cruise control, leading by double digits nearly the entire way. They have now won five straight games, sit at 5-0 in conference play, and have a two game cushion over second place.
A quick break from conference action comes on Tuesday, Jan. 25 as UMM hosts Trinity Bible at 5:30 p.m., but UMAC play resumes on Jim Gremmels Court this weekend with Northland and St. Scholastica coming to town on Jan. 28 and 29 respectively.
