Box Score Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team fell to regular season champion University of Minnesota-Morris by a final score of 76-72 at Reif Gymnasium on Friday night.
Morris (18-6, 13-0 UMAC) would jump out to an early 8-4 lead. The Saints (9-15, 6-7 UMAC) responded with an 11-4 run to take a 15-8 lead. With under nine minutes remaining in the first half the Saints had a 19-18 lead. Morris would retake the lead by going on a 20-10 run to end the half and have a 38-29 lead at the half.
Cougars were lead by Tara Thielke who had a game-high with 11 points in the first half; while the Saints were lead by #Laura Amys# who had nine points off the bench; which was nearly as much as the starters for CSS who scored 10. The Saints dominated in the paint, scoring 20 of their 29 points inside, while Morris only got eight. Morris would shoot 39-percent from the field, while CSS shot 38-percent. 3-point shooting was the key in the first half with the Saints going 0-5 from behind the arc, while the Cougars would go 5-9.
The Cougars came out of the locker room with a 38-29 lead. The Saints were losing 41-29 when they would go on a 10-0 run to cut the Cougars lead to two. However, yet again, Morris would respond right back with a 12-5 run of its own to push their lead to 53-44. The Saints would mount another comeback with less then three minutes remaining in the game, which at that point were losing by a score of 74-65. The Saints would finish the game on a 7-2 run, but couldn't finish off the comeback losing by a score of 76-72.
The Saints ended shooting 41-percent from the field, while Morris shot 44-percent. The Cougars shot 50-percent from behind the arc, while the Saints shot 32-percent. CSS would dominate points in the paint, and bench scoring by putting up 36 and 34, respectively. The Cougars would take advantage of the Saints miscues by getting 20 points of turnovers.
Emily Mehr, Steph Roggenbuck, and Thielke lead the Cougars with 14 points, while #Kayla Heisler# had a game-high of 18 points for the Saints.
Laura Amys (South Range, Wis./Superior HS) would grab her second double-double of this season, which also gives her five career double-doubles.
Due to Martin Luther's victory over Crown tonight, the Saints have been eliminated from UMAC Tournament consideration. The Saints will finish up their season tomorrow afternoon when they host Presentation College for Senior/Parents Day at Reif Gym. The tip-off is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. The game can be seen live, courtesy of the iFan Sports Network, at csssaints.com.
