Bulldogs Bring the Heat Despite Negative Temperatures
Junior guard Ashley Fritz makes a jump shot in the paint to bring the score to 30-36. Photo by Kieley Jacobson
The UMD Bulldog Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams faced off against the Winona State Warriors on Friday, Jan 25 in the Romano Gymnasium. Even with the sub-zero temperatures outside, both teams garnered quite the crowd to witness the Bulldogs come out on top.
The Warriors came ready to fight for the women's game, winning the tipoff and subsequently going on a 6-2 run in the first 3 minutes of the first quarter. The Bulldogs were then able to tie the game at 6-6 before the Warriors responded with a 5-point run to bring the score to 11-6. With one minute left in the quarter, Myra Moorjani was able to secure a fast-break for the Bulldogs followed by a three-pointer by Maria Counts to end the quarter in a tie at 11-11.
The Bulldogs took the momentum from the final moments of the first quarter into the second starting out with a 7-4 run to bring the score to 18-15 with the Bulldogs in the lead. Several fouls and made free throws brought the Warriors back into the game, but the Bulldogs were still able to clinch a tight lead to end the half at 21-20.
The Warriors came out ready to compete the second half going on a 15-5 run with half the quarter left. The Bulldogs were able to secure some contested layups and a few made free throws in an attempt to catch up, but they were no match for the Warriors incredible work in the paint. The quarter ended with a score of 45-36, Warriors on top.
The fourth quarter saw the Warriors pick up where they left off bringing the Bulldogs down by as many as 10 points. With 8:20 left in the quarter, Maria Counts made a three-pointer, sparking 2 more made three point shots by Lexi Karge and Myra Moorjani, respectively. This combined with the Bulldogs entering the bonus and shooting extra free throws allowed them to slowly catch up to the Warriors. The Bulldogs were able to tie the Warriors with a three-pointer by Vanessa Bickford to bring the score to 54-54. With less than a minute left of the game the Bulldogs made two layups with free throws to secure the win and a final score of 59-55.
The Warriors discuss amongst each other during a pause in play. Photo by Kieley Jacobson
The men's game saw the Bulldogs show down over the Warriors garnering an 8-point lead with 10 minutes still left in the half. The following minutes consisted of a 9-2 scoring run for the Bulldogs with 5 of those points being scored by senior Mattie Thompson. The Bulldogs were on fire from this point, scoring 11 points in just four minutes to end the half with a score of 35-19.
The second half started with a Warrior bucket, but was quickly overshadowed by a 14-5 scoring run by the Bulldogs to bring the score to 46-26. With a 20-point deficit in score, the Warriors attempted to catch up going on an 11-4 scoring run, but the Bulldogs would not back down. With three minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs scored 8 points, bringing the final score to 71-50 and breaking the Warriors four game winning streak.
Top scorers consisted of Kole Hanson with 16 points, Caleb Siwek with 15 points, and Mattie Thompson with 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 40% from three while the Warriors were only at 22.2%, but the Warriors shot 9 points off turnovers while the Bulldogs only had 6.
Both Bulldog men’s and women’s teams are away at Wayne State Jan 30 with the women’s game tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s at 7:30 p.m.