MINOT, N.D. – A Holly Johnson jumper rolled off the rim as time expired as the University of Minnesota Crookston women's basketball team held on for the 66-64 win over Minot State University. The Beavers closed the game on a 7-2 run but the Golden Eagles came out with great momentum out of the gate on the game and ultimately picked up a much-deserved win over Minot State Fri., Feb. 16 at the MSU Dome in Minot, N.D.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 7-18 (7-14 NSIC) with the victory. The Golden Eagles have posted a 6-9 mark since Dec. 31 as they have continued to show great improvement down the stretch. Minot State came into the game fighting for a chance to host a home playoff game. The Beavers drop to 13-12 (10-11 NSIC). The two teams split the season series. The Golden Eagles will be the No. 7 seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament and they will head to No. 2 seed Wayne State College (Neb.). Minot State will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament. It is still uncertain who they will play and where it will be.

Minnesota Crookston looked to 20 points and seven boards from Isieoma Odor (R-Jr., F/C, Bloomington, Minn.) on 8-of-15 from the field. Odor needs just 44 points to reach the 1,000 point milestone. Her teammate Emily Gruber (Sr., F/C, Monticello, Minn.) finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Gruber is close behind Odor in all-time points as she needs 49 points to reach 1,000 points.

Caitlin Michaelis (Jr., G, Marshfield, Wis.) added 11 points, five rebounds and six assists on 3-of-6 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Abby Guidinger (Fr., G/F, Waukesha, Wis.) added 10 points off the bench, including going 5-of-6 from the stripe. Micaela Noga (Sr., G, Parkers Prairie, Minn.) added eight points and five rebounds. Noga needs just two points to move past Stephanie Mayclin for seventh all-time in scoring. She is just 17 points away from Brittani Wiese for sixth all-time.

Lindsey Weber (Jr., G/F, Delafield, Wis.) added great energy for Minnesota Crookston with three points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Golden Eagles shot 22-of-58 for 37.9 percent from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 10-of-29 from beyond the arc for 34.5 percent. The Golden Eagles hit 12-of-17 from the charity stripe for 70.6 percent.

Minnesota Crookston had great ball movement on the evening with 16 assists to just eight turnovers led by Michaelis' six assists to zero turnovers.

Minot State looked to a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds from Johnson. Mariah Payne came off the bench for 14 points, while Diondra Denton added 12 points and nine boards. Madison Wald finished with 10 points.

The Beavers shot 25-of-61 from the field for 41.0 percent. Minot State was 9-of-24 for 37.5 percent from the three-point line. The Beavers shot 5-of-8 from the line for 62.5 percent.

Minot State won the rebounding edge 42-35.

The Golden Eagles raced out to an 8-2 lead propelled by six points from Michaelis as she sank both of her three-point attempts. Odor extended the quick advantage to 11-2 as she knocked down a triple from the top of the key. Minot State responded as Denton knocked down a three and was fouled by Gruber where she went to the line and made it a four-point play as they pulled within 11-6. A Kari Clements jumper brought the Beavers back within 11-8. After a steal on the defensive end, Clements drove the court for two and was fouled. She made her one from the charity stripe to knot the game up 11-11 as the Beavers went on a 9-0 run.

Minnesota Crookston stopped the run for the Beavers as Odor sunk both from the line as they took the lead back 13-11. Guidinger built the run for the Golden Eagles to 5-0 as they extended their lead to 16-11. Minot State quickly stopped the run and created one of their own as Payne hit a jumper and Denton sank a three to knot the game back up at 16-16. The stalemate didn't last long as Noga broke it with a triple to push the advantage to 19-16. A pair of Guidinger free throws made it another 5-0 run as the Golden Eagles took a 21-16 lead. Minnesota Crookston went into the quarter break with the five-point advantage.

Michaelis opened the second quarter by hitting 1-of-2 from the stripe. The Beavers were first to score from the field in the second frame as it took nearly two minutes for either team to score from the field. Minot State pulled within 22-19 on a Whitney Molina trey. The Golden Eagles finally lifted the lid from the field as Odor hit a jumper with 7:03 remaining. The Beavers used a 4-0 run later in the quarter as they pulled within 25-23 on a Johnson jumper. Minnesota Crookston staved off Minot State as Gruber sank a triple to extend the lead to 28-23. Minot State came within 28-25 on a Flowers bucket, but the Golden Eagles continued to hold the Beavers off. The Golden Eagles got their lead out to 33-27 as Weber drained a triple with 2:15 left in the quarter. A Molina basket brought Minot State back within 36-32 going into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles shot the three ball well in the first half as they were 8-of-21 from the field for 38.1 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 11-of-32 from the field for 34.4 percent and 6-of-8 from the stripe for 75.0 percent. The Golden Eagles looked to Odor with nine points on 3-of-5 from the field. Gruber added eight points in the first half, while Michaelis had seven. Guidinger came off the bench for six points.

Minnesota Crookston had great ball movement with nine assists to just three turnovers. Michaelis ran the offense with four assists, while Weber chipped in three in the first half.

Minot State won the first half rebounding edge 22-16, but the Golden Eagles limited the Beavers on the offensive boards where each team grabbed five.
The Beavers were 13-of-28 from the field for 46.4 percent. Minot State was just 4-of-10 from beyond the arc for 40.0 percent and 2-of-4 from the foul line. The Beavers looked to seven points from Denton and Molina. Clements added five points. Johnson paced Minot State on the boards with seven.

Minnesota Crookston came out of the break strong as they used an 11-5 run to move the lead out to their biggest advantage of the game at 10. Six points from Odor propelled the Golden Eagle. Minot State used a three from Denton and a jumper from Madison Wald to pull back within 47-42 mid-way through the third quarter. Guidinger stopped the 5-0 run for the Beavers as she sank a pair from the line to extend the lead out to 49-42. Guidinger then found Odor in the post, where the Golden Eagle post was fouled. Odor missed the shot but the Golden Eagles still had the 51-42 lead.  Michaelis then found Guidinger in transition as they extended their run to 6-0 and made it 53-42. Minot State halted the run as Payne hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to cut the lead to 10 at 53-43. Payne sank a triple for the Beavers as they were within 53-46 late in the third quarter. Odor continued her big quarter as she sank a jumper to stop the Beavers there and make it 55-46. Minnesota Crookston went into the quarter sojourn with the 57-48 lead.

Gruber dropped in a jumper early in the fourth quarter to propel the Golden Eagles to a 59-48 advantage. Minnesota Crookston would lead 63-53 as Noga sank a trey with 5:55 left in the game. Minot State made a charge as they used baskets from Payne and Wald to cut the lead to 63-57. Gruber stopped the run as she hit a crucial shot to make it 65-57.  The Beavers came back and cut the deficit to 65-60 when Johnson hit a triple. Payne extended the run to 5-0 as she hit a bucket to cut the lead to 65-62 with 1:40 remaining in the game. A block from Johnson one end helped lead to a pair of Denton free throws. She hit both as the Beavers cut the lead to 65-64 with 1:06 left in the game. The Golden Eagles responded as Odor hit 1-of-2 from the stripe to move the advantage to 66-64 with 51 seconds remaining. Minot State got an open three-pointer with 30 seconds left from Whitney Molina but it would miss as the Golden Eagles got the board. Gruber had a three-point shot on the other end but it would also fall errant as the Beavers got the ball with 3.7 seconds left. Johnson got the shot from above the key, but the ball rolled around the rim and fell off as Minnesota Crookston would hang on for the win 66-64.

The Golden Eagles will wrap up the 2017-18 regular-season Sat., Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. at University of Mary at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D.