BISMARCK, ND – A fourth quarter surge keyed by Megan Zander and Addision Rozell lifted the University of Mary women's basketball team to an 83-75 victory over visiting MSU Moorhead. In addition to a Northern Sun win in the Marauders home opener, UMary head coach Rick Neumann also reached a careen milestone.
 
The Marauders victory was the 150^th for Neumann as head coach at UMary. In his tenth season coaching at his alma mater, he is the fourth straight coach to reach 150 wins, following Cal Collins (150 wins), Roger Haug (234) and Fred Fridley (170).
 
"It's really special," said Neumann. "Most importantly it's our third win in a row and number two in the conference. Looking back I have been fortunate enough to have coached many great players who have played a big part in this, and this is as much of reflection of those people as it is anything I've done.
 
"We're still growing as a team and figuring things out without Lexie Schneider, but I feel like today, Thursday, and last week in Hilo, we've been able to turn a corner. At the end of the day, you're only as good as your next game and now we've got to have a good practice Monday and come out for a good game Tuesday against the team up north."
 
The Marauders improve to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC with UMary's 3^rd straight win. MSU Moorhead falls to 4-3/1-2.
 
A great start by UMary on both ends of the court gave the Marauders a 27-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. Zoe Velde buried a pair of treys and scored nine points to lead a UMary attack that was 4-for-5 on treys. UMary shot 61% from the field to just 31% for MSU Moorhead.
 
The tables turned in the second as UMary missed its first six shots to allow MSU Moorhead back into the game. With the Marauders able to only make a pair of shots in the quarter the Dragons claimed a 37-34 lead at intermission.
 
Both offenses found their way in the third quarter with a series of runs. Down 49-40, the Marauders ripped off nine straight points and evened the game on the triple by Zander. The Dragons responded with eight straight of their own until a Moriku Hakim layup ended the MSUM run. A reverse layup by Zander allowed the Marauders to close within 59-55 at the end of the third.
 
A layup by Addison Rozelle and a trey by Zander to start the final quarter gave the Marauders a brief 60-59 lead before the Dragons once again went in front.
 
In a game that featured eight lead changes and six ties, the Marauders made their move with just under 6:00 left in the game. Down two, Reese Wishart knotted the game at 68-68 with a layup in the paint to ignite a decisive 14-0 run. After two free throws by both Rozell and Zander, a Zander steal and feed to Kottsick for a layup pushed the Marauders lead to 74-68. A steal by Kottsick led to a 3-point play by Rozell as the Marauders forward was fouled making a layup. A Zander basket and another free throw by Rozell capped the Marauders run and left UMary leading 80-68.
 
Following a Dragons basket, Kottsick responded with her second trey of the night with under a minute to play to put an exclamation mark on the win.
 
Zander led the Marauders with a career-high 23 points. The senior forward drained three treys and hit 9-of-18 shots from the floor.
 
Velde added 16 points, also a career-high. She hit all five of her shots in the game, including two treys.
 
Rozell finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double double of the season.
 
Hakim chipped in nine points and Wishart and Kottsick both had eight.
 
Mariah McKeever led all players with 25 points for MSU Moorhead.
 
UMary had a big edge in bench scoring (35-14) and points in the paint (46-30). For the game UMary shot 51.6% from the floor while holding MSUM to a 40% effort.  
 
The Marauders continue a four-game home stand on Tuesday, December 6, when Minot State University travels down Highway 83 for a Northern Sun contest. Game time is 7:30 pm at the McDowell Activity Center.
 
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