01/06/06

Battling back from as many as 13 points down in the second half, the Saints had a chance at the end but their final shot bounced off the rim to give MN-Morris the 75-72 win on the floor of the Reif Center in the final home contest for two Saints seniors, Jen Kne and Sarah Klocke.

Klocke finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 steals which ties her career high. Kne had 10 points, 8 rebounds and a team leading 6 assists.

St. Scholastica played to the early lead in the opening minutes of the first half but through the midway point in the half, the Cougars held a 6 point lead over the Saints.

Chipping away at that margin, St. Scholastica finally grabbed the lead on a 3-pointer from Whitney Latham with just under a minute to play. Morris jumped back into the lead with a trey of their own but Amanda Johnson's jumper pushed the Saints back in front and allowed them to take a 30-29 lead into the intermission.

The Cougars moved back in front early in the second half then opened up a double digit lead they maintained past the midpoint in the half.

With 1:20 to play, the Saints found themselves down by 9 and needing points and turnovers to cut into the lead.

Johnson's jumper cut the lead to 7. Then, after a steal by Jess Stenberg, Johnson sank a 3-pointer cutting the lead to only 4 with :51 on the clock.

Morris converted both ends of a one-and-one from the line but Johnson dropped another 3-point bomb to shave the lead to 3 with 23 ticks left on the clock.

The Saints were again forced to foul and the Cougars converted both free throws, extending the lead back to 5. But Kne stepped behind the arc on the right and sank a clutch 3-pointer to make the score 74-72, Cougars.

Once again, Morris stepped to the line after a Saints foul and this time only converted the second of two, leaving the Saints within reach of a tie score if they could convert a final 3-pointer.

With 10 seconds left, Kne dribbled up court, dished to Klocke, who kicked it back to Kne and as the buzzer sounded the ball bounced off the rim, breaking the hearts of the seniors, and the alumnae in attendance on Alumnae Day.

Johnson had a career day for the Saints, leading all scorers with a career best 23 points. She converted three 3-pointers and 8 free throws, career highs in each.

The Saints old problem, field goal percentage, haunted them again as they hit only 34% from the field, and 31% in the second half. Conversely, the Cougars shot 52% in the second half while building their double-digit lead, and 45% for the game. Morris also out rebounded the Saints by a 47-36 margin.

The Saints once again had more steals than their opponents, registering 17 this afternoon with Morris only getting 5.

The loss drops the Saints to 5-6 in the UMAC and dangerously close to missing the post-season conference tournament. Their remaining three games are with Crown, Northwestern and Northland. The Saints previously beat the first pair but fell to the Lumberjills eleven days ago.