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Nebraska-Kearney's Women's Basketball Falls in NCAA First Round
Women's Basketball Falls in
NCAA First Round
Final Game for Four Seniors
by Peter Yazvac, Nebraska-Kearney Sports Information
Director
Kearney, Neb. - The Minnesota State-Moorhead women's
basketball team outscored Nebraska-Kearney 22-10 in the final eight
minutes to secure a 67-54 win in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament Friday night in Mankato, Minn.
The Lopers, seeded fourth in the Central Region, finish the year at
20-10 while the fifth-seeded Dragons improve to 22-7 and will play
top-seed Minnesota State tomorrow in one semifinal game. The
other side of the bracket had second-seed Fort Lewis and third-seed
Winona State winning first round games.
Meeting for just the fourth time in women's basketball, UNK and
Moorhead each got off slow starts as the teams combined for just 21
points over the first 11 minutes. Down four early, the Dragons
eventually built a seven-point lead and then led by a 27-22 score
at the break.
UNK would find itself down by 12 early in the second half before
making a move. A 16-5 run, covering a seven minute span, made
the score 45-44 Dragons with 8:04 to play. A three from freshman
reserve Debi Johnson (Elsie) capped this UNK spurt.
However, the Dragons controlled things from there, limiting UNK to
just four points over the next seven minutes. By the time the
Lopers reached 50 points, Moorhead was again leading by double
digits.
MSUM turned to its six footers, Alison Nash-Gerlach and Meghan
Rettke, to pick up its first ever NCAA win. Rettke (6-3) had a
game-high 12 rebounds, nine points and four blocks with
Nash-Gerlach (6-1) scoring a team-high 20 points and pulling down
eight boards.
Facing a UNK team with just one six footer, the two combined to go
12 of 19 from the field.
UNK would be out rebounded, 40-31, for a second straight game and
for only the seventh time all season. The Lopers did manage 11
offensive caroms to the Dragons' nine. Moorhead shot a solid
46 percent from the field with UNK making only 34.4 percent of its
shots.
The Lopers had one of its worst efforts from the three point line
(2 of 16) all year and attempted just 14 free throws.
In her final game as a Loper, Elm Creek senior Jade Meads scored a
team-high 20 points, 18 of those coming in the second half. She
also had five rebounds (four offensive) in 35 minutes. Before
fouling out, senior Jonni Mildenberger (Sterling, Colo.) had eight
points and five rebounds and became the eighth Loper to tally 500
points (506) in a single season.
On the career scoring list, Meads now ranks fifth (1,649) and
Mildenberger 15th (1,176).
Finally, senior point Kassi Schuppe (Iliff, Colo.) had seven
points, two assists and two rebounds with senior reserve Tana
Nelsen (Dorchester) having three steals and two points.
