MORRIS, Minn. - The Minnesota Morris women's basketball team will carry a six-game winning streak into the holiday break after defeating Crown 67-43 Saturday afternoon in UMAC play at Jim Gremmels Court.

The win also keeps them perfect in conference play at 4-0.

It took some time for the Cougars to heat up after coming in from the bitter cold, falling behind the Storm 6-0. Kendra Raths finally broke the scoreless drought with a lay-in 5:05 into the contest. That started an 8-0 run that included an Emma Atkinson 3. Atkinson later nailed another 3 as the Cougars would take a 13-12 lead into the second quarter.

The Cougar defense held Crown to just five second quarter points and outscored the Storm by eight to take a 26-17 lead into the locker room. UMM closed the half on a 7-0 run which culminated with a Raths lay-in the final seconds.

The Cougars held Crown to just 24 percent shooting in the first half and 28 percent for the game.

Minnesota Morris shot 52 percent in the second half to take control of the contest. Mauren Thiesen helped build the lead to 16 with a pair of 3s. Jordan Halvorson and Courtney Dague increased it to 19 on a couple of occasions later in the frame. 

Raths opened the fourth with a lay-in to give the Cougars their first 20+-point advantage and the Cougars would cruise from there.

Thiesen led all scorers with 14 points. Raths added 13 and Abby Van Kempen pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with eight points.

Minnesota Morris (6-4, 4-0 in UMAC) is off until January 3 when they host Presentation.