UMD WBB wins sixth NSIC trophy, earns March Madness berth

Senior forward Sarah Grow goes up for a tip against St. Cloud State in UMD’s Romano Gym. Photo courtesy of UMD Athletics

In a rematch of the 2020 title game, the University of Minnesota Duluth women’s basketball topped St. Cloud State to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

This year’s title marks UMD’s sixth NSIC title, with their last championship win coming in 2019. 

After a heartbreaking loss to St. Cloud in the 2019-20 championship, the Bulldogs came to play this season, finishing the regular season near-perfect. UMD came into the championship with a 12-1 overall record, losing only to St. Cloud in Duluth just two weeks ago.

Coming into the game, St. Cloud led Duluth 48-37 in all-time meetings between the NSIC North Division foes, though the Bulldogs had won six of the last eight games.

Following a St. Cloud tipoff win, neither team wasted time draining their first baskets.

St. Cloud’s Caitlyn Peterson nailed a three-point basket to begin, but UMD’s Brooke Olson, who led the tournament in points with 56 entering the game, quickly answered to put the Bulldogs on the board.

One quarter of play found Duluth with a 15-12 lead, but a second quarter shooting malfunction by St. Cloud allowed Duluth to dominate the court, leading to a 22-9 run by the Bulldogs. UMD led the game 37-21 at the half.

St. Cloud’s first half performance was considerably rough; they only shot 26.7% from the paint and 33.3% from beyond the three-point line. UMD seemed as though they couldn’t miss, shooting 60% from the paint and a stunning 71.4% from deep.

A halftime break seemed to give St. Cloud a much-needed energy boost. They outscored UMD 17-16 in the third quarter. A more organized defense took a sharp toll to UMD’s offense, as more Husky steals and points off turnovers held Duluth’s shooting percentage to under 43% from the paint and under 30% from deep.

St. Cloud came out even stronger in the fourth quarter. An 11-2 run by the Huskies brought the game to within nine points with four minutes left.

Despite a late-game push, Duluth’s powerful offense was too much. With both teams in the bonus, UMD slowed down the game and ran out the shot clock in most of their final possessions while avoiding fouling the Huskies.

At the buzzer, the Bulldog bench took to the court to celebrate their 2020 NSIC Championship title.

The Bulldogs dominated almost all aspects of the scoreboard, holding the lead for almost 36 minutes of the game.

UMD was led in scoring by Ann Simonet, with 17; Olson, with 15; and Sarah Grow, with 10. Olson finished as UMD’s highest scorer on the year with a season-total of 276 — nearly 30% of the team’s 970 points on the season.

Olson was named NSIC Tournament MVP, tallying 71 points and 29 rebounds over the tournament’s three games. She was also named to the all-conference team, averaging 20 points per game over the regular season — a top-20 rank across the entire Division DII field.

Winning the conference tournament gives UMD an automatic berth into the NCAA’s Division II March Madness Tournament.

Play in the Central Region begins in Missouri on March 12. St. Cloud State will need to wait and see if they win a bid into the same tournament. NSIC members Augustana (S.D.) and Concordia-St. Paul are also in contention.