ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team led for more than 25 minutes to open the game on Saturday at Crown College, but the Polars clawed their way back into it and then held off the Cougars over the final few chaotic possessions to claim a 72-70 win over UMN Morris. 

Minnesota Morris opened the game with an 11-0 run over the first three minutes and didn't allow Crown to score for nearly six minutes to start the contest. The lead grew to 18-5 on a Jay Kwateh bucket with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, but the Polars managed to score the final 10 points to get back within three after 10 minutes of play.

Another run, this time 7-0, increased the Minnesota Morris lead to double-digits once again to start the second quarter. A Haley Wollschlager three-pointer gave the Cougars a 30-18 advantage with seven minutes remaining until the half. Crown pulled back within four points, 34-30, late in the half before three free throws from the Cougars pushed the lead back to seven at the intermission.

The tide shifted in the third quarter as Crown began the second half on a 9-2 run to knot the score for the first time, 39-39. The Polars then took the lead for the first time at 44-41 and ended the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 53-45 edge into the fourth.

The run continued for Crown in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as the Polars scored five in a row to grow their lead to 58-45. Just when things were starting to look bad for Minnesota Morris, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to close within three, 60-57, midway through the final frame. 

With Crown holding a narrow one-point lead entering the final minute, Madi Hecox made a pair of free throws to give the Polars a 68-65 cushion. On the ensuing Cougar possession, Malory Anderson converted a three-point play to knot the score at 68-68. Hecox again gave the Polars the lead with a layup with eight seconds to go. Calling a timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, a nice entry feed from Wollschlager set up Lexus Redthunder – making her Cougar debut – to score from the block and tie the game at 70-70 with 0.8 seconds left. Unfortunately, that amount of time left the Polars with the opportunity to do the same as the Cougars, calling timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt. On the inbounds, Hayla Flowers slipped to the rim and laid the ball in as time expired to give Crown the dramatic victory.

Anderson finished with a team-high 19 points and also added nine rebounds. Redthunder and Jadyn Sondrol finished with 11 points apiece and Wollschlager added 10. Ella Van Kempen finished the afternoon with five blocks.

Minnesota Morris comes home on Jan. 13 to play host to Northland College beginning at 7:15 p.m.