Huskies stifle Golden Eagles in 69-48 victory

Friday, January 3

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-4,4-3NSIC

University of Minnesota Crookston

2-9,1-6NSIC

Minn.-Crookston

St. Cloud St.

Kelsey Peschel scored a career-high 12 points on 4-5 shooing in the Huskies win over Minnesota-Crookston.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

1/3/2020 9:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – It's often said that Huskies cannot be hunting dogs.

No one sent that memo to the St. Cloud State University women's basketball team.

On the hunt for their first win of the new decade, the Huskies completely dominated in their return to Halenbeck Hall Friday evening. In fact, St. Cloud State led in nearly every statistical category, as the team dominated in a nice 69-48 win over the University of Minnesota-Crookston.

The Huskies had the Golden Eagles number early, as they jumped out to a 24-11 lead in the first quarter and held a 40-25 lead at the half. Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) was key to St. Cloud State's first half success, as she led the team in nearly every offensive and defensive category. The junior forward tallied a team-leading 12 points in the opening 20 minutes of play to go along with six rebounds and a season-high four blocks in the first half alone. Joining her as a stat leader was Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) with two steals and Kelsey Peschel (Sauk Centre, Minn. / Sauk Centre) with three assists.

Minnesota-Crookston attempted to put pressure on the Huskies in the second half of play by whittling St. Cloud State's lead to 45-38 with 4:53 remaining in the third quarter. That was the closest the Golden Eagles would come, though, to touching the lead, as the Huskies went on a scoring barrage to end the quarter with a 58-41 advantage. Wortz, Peschel, Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) and Caitlyn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) all scored for St. Cloud State in the final five minutes to bolster the team's lead to an impressive 18 points.

From there, the Huskies only extended their lead, as senior forward Kassidy Steen (Cloquet, Minn. / Cloquet) sealed the game with a layup in the final seconds, clinching the ever so nice 69-48 victory and improving St. Cloud State's overall record to 7-4 with a 4-3 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play.

As a team, the Huskies outplayed the Golden Eagles in nearly every facet of the game, as their stingy defense held the visitors to a .333 shooting percentage, including a .261 from beyond the arc, as they made just 17 shots in 40 minutes of play. St. Cloud State also outrebounded Minnesota-Crookston 46-25 and tallied a season-high eight blocks in the victory.

Kilboten was the team's top scorer Friday evening, as she tallied 14 points on 6-11 shooting to match her team-leading eight rebounds and five blocks. Peschel had a career day on the floor, as she scored a career-high 12 points on 4-5 shooting, including a 3-4 mark from three-point land, while Theis, Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) and Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) each scored 10 points for the Huskies Friday evening.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 7-4 and the team is now 4-3 in NSIC play. The Huskies will look to start a win streak Saturday, as they host Bemidji State University at 3:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.