ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Playing against the #24 Saint Mary's (2-0) Cardinals on Sunday, the Cougars (0-2) gave them all they could handle before falling 68-65.
Kendra Wycoff had 16 points to pace the offense.
Kayla Kraemer had 11 points, all in the second half as Morris nearly rallied for the win.
Tori Holt had another strong day, going for 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
Emily Auch had eight points off the bench.
The Cardinals used a quick start to take an 11-4 lead in the opening four minutes of play. The lead grew to ten at 16-6 and stayed that way until Wycoff hit a three with 12:22 left in the half. Wycoff hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to five less than a minute later. Morris cut the lead to four after a pair of free throws from
Maja Coomes but Saint Mary's responded with a 15-4 run to take a 34-19 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Minnesota Morris was able to outscore SMU in the final four minutes and cut the lead to single digits before the break. Both teams had a little trouble holding on to the ball in the first half; each team finished the half with nine turnovers. The Cougars took advantage of the SMU mistakes, outscoring them 13-9 in points off turnovers. Saint Mary's got 17 points from their bench in the first twenty minutes.
Kraemer hit a jumper out of the break to cut the lead to seven but the Cardinals responded to take a 13 point lead moments later. Morris' defense then took over, much like in their game on Saturday. They would hold SMU to just a pair of free throws over a four minute stretch while cutting the SMU lead to six.
Saint Mary's was able to counter the Cougars once again and took a ten point lead midway through the half. Kraemer and Coomes teamed up to score eight straight points and UMM pulled within two at 52-50. SMU would extend their lead back to seven but again the Cougars came right back, pulling within two once again after a jumper from Auch.
With less than two minutes left in the game Kraemer hit a pair of free throws pulling the Cougars to within one. Unfortunately the Cougars could not get over the hump as they fell 68-65. The Cougars defense held Saint Mary's to just 36% shooting in the second half which allowed them to get back into the game.
Tori Holt was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Morris is back on the court on Tuesday, hosting Trinity Bible in their home opener at 5:30 p.m.
