MORRIS, Minn. - Minnesota Morris trailed by as much as 9 early on, but fought their way back and held off a late Northwestern charge to claim a 52-49 win Wednesday night in UMAC women's basketball action at Jim Gremmels Court.

Northwestern raced out to a 15-6 lead four minutes into the contest. The Cougars held the Eagles scoreless the rest of the quarter as Zoe Loucks and Elli Stevenson drained 3s to get UMM within 3 at 15-12 by quarter's end.

The Eagles rebuilt their lead in the second quarter and led 29-19 with 3:28 remaining in the first half. The Cougars used another good quarter-closing rally to pull within 3 at 31-28 by halftime. Stevenson scored seven of the Cougar nine points down the stretch.

The Cougars gained their first lead since they led 4-3, on a Becca Holland jumper 3:10 into the second half that made it 37-35. Late in the quarter, Abby Van Kempen's lay-in off a Mauren Thiesen inbounds pass gave UMM a 43-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Both teams displayed strong defenses in the fourth as both the Cougars and Eagles were held to 9 fourth quarter points. A big 6-0 Cougar run gave them a 52-45 lead with 1:18 remaining. The last two came from a Thiesen lay-in off a feed from Van Kempen with the shot clock winding down.

Stevenson led all scorers with 15 points. She also added six rebounds and six assists. Bailey Miller scored 11. Kendra Raths and Van Kempen each pulled down 11 rebounds.

Minnesota Morris (12-12, 11-4 in UMAC) wraps up the regular season Saturday at Northland.