Cougars take No. 2 seed in UMAC
The University of Minnesota, Morris women's basketball team secured a first-round bye with the No. 2 seed in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
The Cougars host the winner of No. 3 Northwestern versus No. 6 Presentation Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the P.E. Center.
After splitting last weekend's games, the Cougars' 11-3 record put them in a tie for second place in the UMAC with Northwestern. Northland won both of its contests to move to first place with a 12-2 record.
Northwestern 64
UM-Morris 57
A slow start by the Cougars Friday night in St. Paul led to a 64-57 loss to Northwestern.
The Cougars were shooting only 23.1 percent from the field in the first half, leading to a 34-21 halftime deficit.
Hitting 50 percent of their shots in the second half to outscore Northwestern 36-30 was not enough to make a comeback.
Northwestern was hitting 34.4 percent in the first half and 37.5 in the second.
At the free-throw line, the Cougars were 15-of-18, while the Eagles were 17-of-26.
Steph Roggenbuck was 7-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 at the line to lead the Cougars with 18. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
Coressa Leighty recorded a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Also scoring were Diane Blommel with seven, Nikki Washek and Kara Norris with six apiece, Jenni Noordmans with three, and Kaila Lindsey with one.
Jamie Rainey had a team-high five assists. Blommel dished out four.
UM-Morris 87
Crown 53
Four Cougars scored in double figures to help UMM to an 87-53 win over Crown in the final regular-season game of the year.
The Cougars shot 45.7 percent in the first half to take a 49-30 lead at halftime. They were hitting 42.1 percent in the second.
Crown hit 35.7 percent in the first and 26.7 in the second.
At the free-throw line the Cougars were 17-of-20, with 16 attempts in the first half.
Crown was 19-of-24 at the line.
Washek led in two columns with 22 points and four steals.
Roggenbuck had 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds. She was 6-for-6 at the free-throw line.
Leighty added 16 points and Norris had 12.
Also scoring were Blommel and Noordmans with six apiece, Natalie Thomas with three, and Joy Heysee with two.
Blommel and Noordmans each grabbed eight rebounds.
Noordmans dished out a team-high five assists, with Rainey recording four.
