Mankato, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's basketball team fell to Minnesota Crookston in overtime on Saturday evening at Taylor Center, 91-90. With .9 second remaining, UMC converted on a lob pass at the buzzer to give the Golden Eagles the highly contested win. 

With the loss, MSU's overall record falls to 5-10 overall and 4-7 in conference play.

In the first period, the Golden Eagles jumped out to an early, 16-7, lead over the Mavericks with 4:26 left in the first quarter. The Mavericks hung in tough to finish out the quarter, as they cut into UMC's lead, 22-17, at the end of the quarter. The Golden Eagles Alex Thielman and Katrina Nordick combined to score 21 of the teams 22 points in the quarter, while the Mavericks frontcourt duo of senior McKenzie Hoelmenn [Lakeville, Minn.] and sophomore Claire Ziegler [Mankato, Minn.] combined to score 14 points.

In the second quarter UMC took its first double-digit lead of the game at the 7:59 mark, 29-19, but again MSU wouldn't go away and cut back it the Golden Eagles lead. The Mavericks trimmed the UMC's lead down to four, 38-34, with 4:16 left in the half after a jumper from freshman Taylor Paulsrud [Rogers, Minn.]. Going into halftime, the Golden Eagles led 42-37 over the Mavericks.

In the first half, UMC shot an impressive 62% from the field, while MSU connected on 47% of its shots. The Mavericks outrebounded the Golden Eagles 21-12 in the half and also outscored UMC in second chance points, 10-1.

Ziegler led MSU at the break with 13 points and four rebounds, while Hoelmenn was right behind with 12 points and five boards. For the Golden Eagles, Thielman tallied 15 points, three rebounds and two assist, while Nordick ended the half with 11 points and two steals.

In the third quarter, Ziegler added 12 more points to her stat line and the Mavericks defense turned up the pressure, as they held UMC to a 16% field-goal percentage. MSU retook the lead, 58-57, at the 1:31 mark of the quarter after Paulsrud nailed a 3-pointer from the wing, which marked as MSU's first lead since, 2-0. On the next possession for the Mavericks, sophomore Madison Lee [Coon Rapids, Minn.] drained a three to extend MSU's lead, 61-57. At the end of the three quarters, the Mavericks led over the Golden Eagles, 63-59.

In the fourth quarter it was back and forth from both teams as there were four ties and two lead changes. At the 1:46 mark, the score was tied at 73-73 and after a MSU timeout, Paulsrud drained her second three-pointer of the game to give the Mavericks a, 76-73, lead with 1:02 left in regulation. However, UMC would not go away and ended up forcing the game into overtime at, 76-76.

To start the overtime period, Nordick scored five consecutive points for UMC to give the Golden Eagles a quick five-point lead, 81-76, with 4:17 left. Lee answered right back for the Mavericks with a three pointer, but again Nordick converted on another field-goal in the paint on UMC's next possession. Lee wouldn't back down though on the next trip down for MSU, after she hit her third 3-pointer of the game to close UMC's lead down to one, 83-82, with 3:11 remaining.

MSU took its first lead in overtime, 88-87, after a pair of made free-throws from junior Britney Scherber [Bloomington, Minn.] with 26 remaining in the game. The next trip down for UMC, Thielman put the Golden Eagles back up one, 89-88, after a made layup with 18 seconds left to play. MSU quickly called a timeout and out of the break, Ziegler came in the clutch for MSU, as she hit a highly contested shot in the lane to put the Mavericks up, 90-89, with .9 seconds left in the game. However, after a timeout by UMC, the Golden Eagles converted on their lob pass to give them the 91-90 overtime win.

In the overtime period UMC converted on 75% of its shots from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. MSU nailed all six of its free-throw attempts in overtime and also scored four points off second chance points.

Overall, MSU finished the game with a 44% field-goal percentage, including 9-of-22 from beyond the arc, while UMC shot 47% from the field. The Mavericks outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 49-34, and outscored UMC, 19-7, in second chance points. MSU's bench also played a key role as they outscored UMC, 32-11, while the Golden Eagles outscored the Mavericks in the paint, 40-28. Turnovers also proved costly for MSU as it coughed the ball up 19 times compared to UMC's 11 turnovers.

UMC's duo of Nordick and Thielman combined to score 56 points, as Nordick tallied a game-high 32 points in the contest.

For MSU, Ziegler finished the game with her second consecutive game of 20 points or more with 29 points and eight rebounds. Four other players for the Mavericks finished in double-digits, as Hoelmenn, Lee, Paulsrud and Scherber each record 12 points apiece. Hoelmenn posted her fourth double-double of the season as she record 11 rebounds as well, while Scherber added a team-high four assists.

Next up for Minnesota State will be Concordia-St. Paul, as the two teams will take on each other in a midweek NSIC contest on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.