MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team fell behind by double-digits in the first half before storming back for a 67-51 triumph over Bethany Lutheran College on Friday evening at James Gremmels Court. The win lifts the Cougars to 6-8 (3-1 UMAC) on the season. 

When Minnesota Morris could hold onto the ball in the first quarter, they had success on the offensive end. It was turnovers that plagued the Cougars in the early going and Bethany Lutheran took advantage of the errors to end the quarter strong with a 19-12 advantage.

With a lid of the basket to start the second quarter, Bethany Lutheran opened up a double-digit lead at 26-15. Maddy Grove then led a Cougar comeback by scoring seven straight points. Some late post buckets from Alice Wilkinson and Claire Stark helped Minnesota Morris shrink the deficit to 32-28 at the break.

It was a different story entirely in the second half as Minnesota Morris limited Bethany Lutheran to just 19 points in the final 20 minutes. Despite still trailing by four points midway through the third quarter, a Wilkinson putback helped ignite a run that ended with the Cougars out in front, 46-41, heading into the fourth.

Twice in the fourth quarter, Bethany Lutheran would cut the Minnesota Morris lead to three, but each time Grove had the response as Jay Kwateh and Malory Anderson provided pinpoint passes to set up the layups. The Cougar lead reached double-digits with about five minutes remaining and the defense took care of the rest as the Vikings could not get anything going as the clock worked against them.

Grove finished with a game-high 26 points and was joined in double figures by Stark, who had 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. 

Minnesota Morris concludes the home weekend tomorrow afternoon, welcoming in Martin Luther College for a 3 p.m. matinee.