St. Cloud State
Upper Iowa University
Women's basketball rebounds with 66-50 win over Upper Iowa
1/3/2021 4:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. CLOUD, MINN. - The St. Cloud State University women's basketball team proved a very important thing: NFL football isn't the only exciting sports action on Sundays.
Less than 24 hours after suffering a season opening loss to Upper Iowa University, the Huskies turned things around in dramatic fashion. In fact, St. Cloud State absolutely dominated the visiting Peacocks, rolling to a 66-50 victory Sunday afternoon.
Just like Saturday, the first half was a closely contested contest, as Upper Iowa managed to keep pace with the Huskies through the first five minutes of the first quarter. In fact, the biggest lead St. Cloud State could seemingly muster in the opening 10 minutes was four. That is, until Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, MInn. / Hutchinson) and Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere) got cooking. The two combined for a seven point run, helping the Huskies close the first quarter with an 18-10 lead.
St. Cloud State's defense was also the start of the show in the opening half. After surrendering 32 points in the first half on Saturday, the Huskies held the Peacocks to roughly .300 percent shooting in the first and second quarter and just 24 points. However, St. Cloud State's offense also hit a bit of a rough patch in the second, as the team managed just 15 points in the second quarter. Still, the Huskies held the advantage, as they walked into the locker room with a 33-24 halftime lead.
Things really started clicking for St. Cloud State in the third and fourth quarters, as the Huskies slowly but surely extended their lead over Upper Iowa to 15 points. It started with a jump shot from Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / Eau Claire North), followed by back-to-back threes from Caitlyn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) and Erin Navratil (Albany, Minn. / Albany), boosting St. Cloud State's lead to 44-29 with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter.
The Peacocks managed to cut the lead to 12 by the end of the third quarter, but it was too little too late. Five different student-athletes scored to open the fourth quarter, helping St. Cloud State score nine unanswered points and jump ahead 55-36. At that point, there was nothing Upper Iowa could do against the Huskies stingy defense, as they cruised to their first victory of the season by a score of 66-50.
Evans was once again the team's leading score, as she wracked up 17 points on 5-10 shooting with three assists, two rebounds, four steals and a block. Peterson scored a career-high 15 points in the victory, while Wortz added 11. Additionally, Kilboten lead the team with seven rebounds.
With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 1-1. The Huskies will officially open conference play next weekend, when they host the University of Mary Friday and Saturday. Tip off on Friday, January 8 is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.
