Statesman

Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Alexander Susuki Jheri Booker and Monica Mayry guard a Dragon opponent.

With the regular season winding down and postseason tournament fields taking shape, the UMD women's basketball team picked up a key win over the Minnesota-Crookston Golden Eagles Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action. Unfortunately, the Dogs were unable to repeat their winning ways against a very tough squad of Dragons from Minnesota State-Moorhead.

The Bulldogs (13-11 overall, 10-7 NSIC) now sit in sixth place in the conference standings. With three games left, that would place UMD in the eight-team field for the NSIC tournament. Head coach Annette Wiles said the team has been working for this all season.

"We're still right in the mix for the conference tournament, that's been our goal all season long," she said.

With the NSIC tournament less than three weeks away and the Bulldogs on the verge of clinching a berth, it is easy to forget how far-fetched this goal seemed earlier in the season. After all, the team won only four games all of last season. However, the Dogs have thrived under the first-year tutelage of Wiles and, if the season ended today, would be playing in the national NCAA Division II tournament.

This improved play over a year ago was plainly evident Friday night as the Bulldogs grounded the Golden Eagles. Riding a 12-0 run to start the contest, UMD ran away with this game from the outset. By halftime the Dogs had already opened a 22-point lead and featured three players with double-digit scoring.

As the second half progressed, UMD's lead hovered near 20. Even after most of the starters were long gone and resting, Crookston could do little right. With a phenomenal total of 15 steals, the Dogs forced Crookston to turn the ball over 24 times. In the end, the Dogs won 79-59. Two Bulldogs, Jheri Booker and Kelsey Hewitt, finished with double-doubles while Jordanne Even added 16 points.

This scoring distribution is what Wiles seeks from her team on a regular basis.

"It's a must to have a good inside game in this league," she said. "But we really need more balanced efforts to win big games."

Unfortunately for UMD, this balance was nowhere to be found Saturday night as the Dogs lost to the Dragons 73-59. Coming into the game, both teams were in the top six of the Central Region rankings, according to the NSIC Web site. Afterward there was little doubt which team would be ranked higher.

Continued...

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