St. Cloud State
12-5,7-3NSIC
University of Minnesota Duluth
13-1,10-1NSIC
Huskies come up short in NSIC / Sanford Health Championship
2/28/2021 2:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The St. Cloud State University women's basketball team is well-known for its nitty, gritty defense and fourth-quarter comebacks in 2020-21, especially during the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) / Sanford Health Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The nitty play and the gritty defense were there in the Huskies NSIC / Sanford Health tournament championship matchup with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The comeback was not.
Despite St. Cloud State's best attempts, the team was unable to defend its conference tournament title from one season ago, as it fell to top-seeded Minnesota-Duluth 67-55.
The intensity in the Sanford Pentagon was palpable before tip off, as the Huskies and Bulldogs were equally ready to prove their worth in the NSIC / Sanford Health Championship. The two rivals were equally matched as they were one season ago and entered the game with nearly identical numbers in all statistical categories. It showed through the first five minutes, as Minnesota-Duluth held the slimmest of leads over St. Cloud State 6-5 at the first media time out.
The Bulldogs proved to have the stingier defense in the first quarter, as they used their size in the middle to take a 15-12 over the Huskies after one. Minnesota-Duluth then extended its lead to 24-12 early in the second, as the Huskies committed a handful of pesky turnovers, allowing the Bulldogs to go on a 9-0 run to start the quarter.
St. Cloud State continued to battle, but red-hot shooting by Minnesota-Duluth gave the top-team a 37-21 entering the locker room at half. Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, MInn / Hutchinson) led the way with eight points in the first half, while Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / Eau Claire North) grabbed four boards in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The Huskies had their work cut out for them in the second half, but they came from behind every game of the tournament and were more than prepared to do it again. For the first time all tournament, though, the 16 point deficit was one St. Cloud State could not overcome despite its best attempts. Though the Huskies managed to cut the Bulldog lead to nine with 4:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, Minnesota-Duluth could not be stopped, as St. Cloud State fell in the NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament championship game by a final score of 67-55.
Wortz was both the team and game's leading scorer, as she scored 19 points on 6-14 shooting and a 6-6 clip from the charity stripe. Kilboten added 12 points in the defeat on 6-12 shooting and led the way with five rebounds for the Huskies. Both were named to the NSIC / Sanford Health All-Tournament team for the second consecutive season, having earned the honor during the team's championship run in 2019-20.
With the loss, St. Cloud State ends the 2020-21 season with a 12-5 record and a 7-3 mark in NSIC North Division play. The Huskies will wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament field, which will be announced Sunday, March 7.
