MORRIS, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team took on the University of Northwestern Eagles in their fourth conference matchup of the year. The defeat for the Cougars moves them to 2-2 in conference play on the season. 

After opening the matchup with an 8-0 run, the Cougars faced an 0-8 run by the Eagles to tie things up halfway through the first quarter. A layup from Maddy Grove followed by back-to-back triples from Anna Myers put Minnesota Morris back up by eight. Northwestern tied the game up at 20-20 and knocked down a free throw to lead 21-20 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Eagles created a seven point lead early in the second quarter but a layup from Shelby Mortenson, two free throws from Savanna Pelzer, and a layup from Grove cut the deficit down to one with six minutes to go in the half. After a back-and-forth quarter, Itzel Salazar splashed a three with six seconds left to leave the Cougars trailing just 38-39 at the half. 

Northwestern commanded the third quarter, outscoring Minnesota Morris 18-10 to lead 57-48 going into the final quarter of this intense matchup. Grove, Myers, and Mortenson rallied the Cougars in the fourth quarter, going on a 13-7 run to trail by three with five minutes to go. Myers converted a fast break layup and splash a three to tie things up with four minutes remaining in the game. After a scoreless three minutes, the Eagles 10-2 run in the last minute that solidified their victory on the day. 

Grove dropped an impressive 27 points on the day, adding six rebounds, four steals, and four assists to her stat line as well. Myers came off the bench and dropped 18 points for the Cougars while also nabbing two steals. 

The Cougars will take a break from UMAC play to take on Trinity Bible College Jan. 20 at 5:30 pm.