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Southwest Minnesota State fell to Minnesota Duluth 62-50 on Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. With the loss, SMSU drops to 1-13 overall, 0-9 in the NSIC, while UMD improves to 9-4 overall, 6-3 in the NSIC.
The loss was SMSU’s tenth straight dating back to Nov. 25, 2012. SMSU lost 11 straight contests last season stretching from Jan. 7, 2012 to Feb. 11, 2012.
SMSU committed 19 turnovers but shot a solid 46.5 percent from the floor in the loss. The Mustangs didn’t have a player in double-digits as Ellen Degler led SMSU with eight points. Bree Holleman and Alison Nagel both had seven points, while Mikayla Saathoff, Rebekah Rolling, Hope Bonlander and Annessa Rosch all contributed with six points.
Courtney Doucette led all scorers as she poured in 19 points on 70 percent shooting.
The Mustangs stuttered out of the gate as UMD shot out to a 7-0 lead just 1:46 into the game. The Mustangs would tie the game at 23 with 4:30 remaining in the first half but could never take the lead as UMD held a 33-27 lead into the half.
SMSU would never lead in the game as UMD padded its lead in the second half to as much as 20 points. SMSU would show some life late and cut the Bulldog lead to nine with 1:17 remaining but it was too little too late. The Bulldogs held off the late rally and secured their seventh straight victory over SMSU dating back to the 2002-03 season.
The Mustangs will turn around and travel to play the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Courtesy: Adam Henning, Assistant Athletic Communications Director, Southwest Minnesota State University
