MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team broke away from the University of Northwestern with a strong defensive effort that resulted in 25 Eagle turnovers and a five-minute stretch of the fourth quarter without a basket for the visitors in a 61-52 Cougar win. UMN Morris remains tied for first place in the UMAC at 9-8 (6-1).

Turnovers on four of the first five Northwestern possessions set the tone for the day. Baskets from Claire Stark, Malory Anderson, and Shelby Mortenson helped Minnesota Morris jump out to a 7-0 lead and more than five minutes elapsed before the Eagles got on the board. Despite the slow start from UNW, the Eagles quickly went on an 8-0 run and managed to take a 15-13 lead after one.

A 7-0 start to the second quarter put Minnesota Morris back on top, 20-15, with Jay Kwateh, Jadyn Sondrol, and Stark providing the offense. Again, Northwestern survived the drought of more than five minutes and came back to take the lead, 26-25, at the half after connecting on a trio of three-pointers late in the period.

The trend continued in the third quarter as Minnesota Morris had the first five points of the frame with Northwestern not scoring for more than three minutes. A back-and-forth quarter that had had nine lead changes and three ties ended with the Cougars clinging to a 42-40 edge after buckets from Maddy Grove and Stark finished things off.

Northwestern's Ella Falk converted a three-point play in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to give the Eagles a slight 43-42 advantage, but that would be all the offense that they could muster for nearly five minutes. Over that span, Northwestern committed four turnovers and missed four shots as Minnesota Morris scored 14 unanswered points. Grove and Kwateh combined for 12 of the 14 points as the Cougars took a 13-point lead with less than five minutes to play. The only time the lead dipped down into single digits from there was in the final minute as Falk hit a late three-pointer, but UMN Morris cruised to the finish line for the victory.

Grove finished with 19 in the contest for the Cougars, while Stark added 14. Kwateh notched nine points and had eight steals in a game for the second time this season. Anderson had 11 rebounds, three steals, three assists, and two blocked shots.

Minnesota Morris hosts Trinity Bible College on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. in the final non-conference matchup of the regular season.