The #8 University of Minnesota Duluth Women’s Basketball team opened their regular season schedule tonight with a 69-59 win over the Thomas More University Saints. 

 

First Quarter: UMD (17) – TMU (6)

 

Despite giving up the first bucket of the game, the Bulldogs would prevent the Saints from putting together any unanswered points despite their 7 turnovers. UMD would go 7-14 from the field compared to TMU’s 3-14. They would go a perfect two for two from the line, and hold the lead for seven and a half minutes despite having an equal number of possessions.

 

Second Quarter: UMD (32) – TMU (22)

 

The Bulldogs would get off to a slow start to the second quarter, giving up six unanswered through the first three and a half minutes of the quarter. Two successful free throws from Ella Gilbertson got things started for UMD and led to a seven point string that would allow the Bulldogs to hold on to the lead until the half. Throughout the quarter, UMD would go 5-13 with a 38.5% field goal percentage and keep the lead through the entire 10 minutes.

 

Third Quarter: UMD (52) – TMU (42)

 

Despite eight fouls on the side of UMD, the Bulldogs would keep close to the Saints in the scoring and continue to hold on to their lead for the entire quarter. UMD went 9-13 with a 69.2% field goal percentage and went two for three from the line. They were able to force four turnovers and recover nine defensive rebounds.

 

Fourth Quarter: UMD (69) – TMU (59)

 

Yet again, UMD would hold on to the lead for the full final 10 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs went 4-8 from the field with two of those being three point shots. They would go 7-8 from the line and secure 12 total rebounds to end the game and secure their first win of the 2023-24 season.

 

Top Performers

 

Sophomore forward Lexi Karge would shoot 7-10 from the field and 2-2 from the line, topping the points chart for UMD with 16 total. Graduate student guard Taytum Rhoades came up with eight rebounds and seven blocks with her 15 point performance, and graduate student guard Madelyn Granica would come up with 3 steals.

 

Up Next

 

Women’s Basketball heads to Kenosha, WI tomorrow to take on the UW Parkside Rangers. The action kicks off tomorrow at 2:00 PM.