ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team earned its first victory of the 2023-24 season on Saturday with a 60-51 neutral-site victory over St. Olaf College. The win improves the Cougars to 1-2 early on in the campaign.
Minnesota Morris made two three-pointers in the first half and they both came in the first two minutes of the contest as
Malory Anderson and
Lexus Redthunder knocked them down to give the Cougars a 6-0 lead. Shelby Anderson followed with an and-one layup and
Maddy Grove later scored six points as part of an 8-0 run that pushed the advantage up to 17-5 before the first quarter ended with UMN Morris in front, 17-8.
With the lead at 19-9, the offense suddenly dried up for Minnesota Morris and St. Olaf went on an extended 16-0 run over the course of six minutes to take a 25-19 edge. Five free throws in the final three minutes of the second quarter helped the Cougars pull within two, 26-24, at the half.
The charity stripe continued to be where Minnesota Morris did its damage as the second half began. The first five points of the third quarter came from the line before Mortenson finally connected on a field goal for the Cougars. Another
Claire Stark free throw made the run 11-0 dating back to the end of the first half and put Minnesota Morris ahead, 32-26. A layup from Anderson just before the quarter ended gave the Cougars a 39-34 lead heading into the last 10 minutes.
Grove went into the fourth quarter with seven points, but took over and scored 16 down the stretch to hold off a St. Olaf push.
Alice Wilkinson put Minnesota Morris ahead, 48-45, after the Oles had cut it to one, and with the score 48-46, Grove scored 10 points in a row for the Cougars to boost the lead to nine with less than 40 seconds to play.
Grove finished the afternoon with a game-high 23 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the weekend. She was joined in double-figures by Anderson with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Anderson, Mortenson,
Jay Kwateh and
Jadyn Sondrol all came up with three steals in the contest.
Minnesota Morris makes its home debut on Wednesday night, hosting the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at James Gremmels Court starting at 7 p.m.
