Box Score DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica women's basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 lead over the Cougars of University of Minnesota Morris, but would struggle in the second half and lose by a score of 64-51.
Tonight's game was the inaugural Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week.
Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) got off to a hot start hitting her first two shots from behind the arc to help the Saints get out to the big lead. The Cougars started 0-for-5 on field goals and committed three team turnovers before scoring their first basket of the game with 16:12 left in the first.
The two teams would bounce back-and-forth for the next seven minutes with the Saints leading by as many as 12 points before the Cougars started to chip away and go 14-5 run to close out the first half. Morris would lead Scholastica by a score of 27-25 at the break.
The Cougars picked up where they left off and would increase their lead to as much as 17 points with eight minutes left to go in the game. CSS and UMM would trade baskets in the latter parts of the second period, but the Saints were unable to get within 13 points in the last 10 minutes of regulation.
Kayla Heisler (Remer, Minn./Northland HS) was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc for the Saints in the second half.
Mariah Hovick (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) led the way offensively for the Saints with 14 points. Heisler was close behind with 12 points via the 4-for-4 from downtown.
Erin Frase (Phillips, Wis./Phillips HS (UW-River Falls)) was the leading rebounder for CSS, coming down with seven.
Morris out-rebounded the Saints 45-30. Abby Fragodt brought down 14 of those and her teammate Emily Mehr chipped in with 10. Mehr finished off her double-double with a game-high 17 points.
The Saints (3-10, 0-2 UMAC) will be back in the Reif tomorrow afternoon as they face off against another UMAC opponent in Crown College. The game is set for a 3:00 p.m. tip-off. All of the action can be seen live on Saints Sports Net.
