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St. Cloud State University
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Sports
SCSU outgunned in opener
By Derek Sullivan
Published:
Monday, November 17, 2003
Simple addition was a bigger obstacle than the Golden Eagles Saturday night.
The SCSU women's basketball team dominated the paint, but Minnesota-Crookston made 13 three-pointers in a 78-68 win over the Husky women.
First-year post player Erica Quigley scored 15 points in her first half as a college player. Quigley almost single-handedly kept the Huskies in the game, as Crookston made eight three-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Fellow classmate Shannon Francis shook off four first half turnovers to score 13 points, including three three-pointers.
"(Quigley and Francis) are going to get out there early," Huskies head coach Lori Ulferts said. "Francis struggled early, but I thought they both adjusted well."
Minnesota-Crookston and SCSU went back and forth the first 15 minutes of the season-opening contest.
Early on, Quigley made four lay-ups of great entry passes from sophomore Sascha Hansen and senior Jessica Abrahams. While SCSU was using their size advantage for point blank two-point baskets, Minnesota-Crookston was launching three-pointers. Junior Stephanie Mayclin, and sophomores Amy Kuznia and Lindsey Van Guilder combined to make five three-pointers in the first six and a half minutes of the contest.
"Because we are not real big, we need to shoot the three," Minnesota-Crookston head coach Mike Curfman said. "We don't have a dominating center, so we're going to be a jump-shooting team."
After the first 10 minutes SCSU led 21-20, on junior Molly Jensen's first basket of the season.
Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles would continue to make three-point baskets, hitting three more long-range jumpers to retake the lead and increase it to seven points at 43-36.
"They shot the ball extremely well," Ulferts said. "Our defense was not there to contest those shots."
Shannon Francis hit a big three- pointer to immediately cut the lead back to four, at 43-39. The Huskies would get a bucket from Abrahams (her only bucket on a 1-12 night) and a free-throw from Quigley to finish the half on a 7-2 run.
The first half was played at an NBA pace. SCSU was lucky to be trailing by only three points. Minnesota-Crookston shot 56 percent from the field, and a smoldering 53 percent from behind the arc. SCSU hung around by hitting a respectable 43 percent of the field goal attempts. The Huskies used their size advantage to get several second shots. They attempted 14 more field goals in the first half then the Golden Eagles.
The second half was played at a much slower pace. SCSU made a point to guard the perimeter and gave up only seven points in the first six minutes on the second half. While the defense was playing tough, the offense went ice cold. The Huskies actually were out-scored 7-3 in the first six minutes of the second half. Once again the Huskies would trail by seven points, 52-45.
"We shot so poor in the second half," Shannon Francis said. "You cannot win like that."
The play got sloppy for the next three minutes as each team continually turned the ball over. Then, with 11 minutes to go in the game, Minnesota-Crookston finally connected from behind the arc. Minnesota-Crookston's sophomores Casey Francis and Van Guilder hit back-to-back three-pointers to increase the lead to eleven at 58-47.
Minnesota-Crookston point guard Mayclin got called for hand checking on back-to-back trips to pick up her third and fourth fouls. With Mayclin out of the game, the Huskies started a 13-5 run to cut the Crookston's lead to 66-64, on junior Katie Huschle's lone three-pointer.
After Huschle's three, Minnesota-Crookston raced down the court and Mayclin hit a back-breaking three-pointer, the Eagles' 13th three-pointer of the game.
Curfman, a former assistant at SCSU, applauded the way his team held on to the lead.
"After their 13-2 run, I thought we did a good job of keeping our composure," Curfman said. "Anytime you are on the road against a good opponent, you need to play with composure."
Trailing 71-64 with a little over two minutes to go in the game, SCSU did not quit. Quigley got her only bucket of the second half, cutting the lead to 71-66. Minnesota-Crookston's first-year player Kari Score followed with a jumper to increase the lead back to seven.
The Huskies could not get any closer. Trailing by seven, Quigley missed a point blank lay-up. Hansen immediately fouled Van Guilder who hit one of two free-throws increasing the lead to 74-66.
With a minute to play, Hansen and Huschle each missed three-pointers, and Abrahams missed a free-throw line jumper. Minnesota-Crookston finally snagged the rebound. The Golden Eagles would sandwich four free-throws around a Shannon Francis basket for the final 78-68 outcome.
The Huskies will return to the court next weekend in St. Paul. SCSU will play in the Crown Plaza Tournament hosted by Concordia University.
"We have to regroup. We have to attack the basket much more aggressively than (tonight)," Ulferts said. "We need to play within our strengths and we will be okay."
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