UNK Women Kick Off Season With A Win At Minnesota-Crookston

Redshirt junior wing Meg Burns had a career-high 19 points, redshirt sophomore point guard Jillian Aschoff got close to a triple double and redshirt freshman post Bailee Sobczak had a big collegiate debut to help Nebraska Kearney down Minnesota-Crookston, 79-70, Friday night in Marshall, Minn.

This was the season-opener for both teams. UNK faces tourney host Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night at 7 p.m.; the Mustangs fell to Northwest Missouri State on Friday, 94-89.

Under new head coach Drew Johnson, the Lopers got out to a 22-13 lead only to see the Golden Eagles come back thanks to five first half three-point shots. UMC led 39-37 at the break as sophomore guard and 2023 All-NSIC pick Emma Miller had 13 points (3 of 4 threes).

UNK took control in the third by outscoring UMC by a 33-13 margin. The huge offensive effort featured 11 points from Burns (Ankeny, Ia.) and 12 points from Sobczak
(Rapid City, S.D.) who made her debut after redshirting last winter. Sobczak was 6 of 6 from the field with Burns sinking 4 of 5 shots.

The Golden Eagles, also led by a new head coach, tried to make a run in the fourth. However, they could only get as close as seven points as UNK sank 5 of 7 free throws to offset a 2 of 20 effort from the field. Miller finished with 15 points, seven assists and six boards with fellow starter Natalie Mikot at 14 points on 4 of 8 triple shooting.

Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) amassed 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists with veteran post Shiloh McCool (Pleasant Hill, Ia.) at 11 points, six boards, and four fouls drawn. Finally, Sobczak (15 & 11) had her first double double with veteran guard Trinity Law (Brandon, S.D.) tallying 11 points and Burns making 7 of 10 shots (5 of 6 threes). Her prevoius career-best of 18 came last year against Lincoln.