By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — When she was just a youngster, learning how to play basketball, Liz Trauger would practice with her dad, Larry, who would hold up a shovel to simulate the post defender.
In order to shoot over him, and that shovel, she developed a jump hook, and even though she’s also developed as a perimeter threat, that’s the move Trauger uses in tough situations.
“That’s my go-to move,” she said. “It’s tough to defend. It’s tough to get blocked.”
Trauger scored a career-high 28 points as Minnesota State defeated Minnesota Crookston 76-68 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s basketball game Friday at Bresnan Arena. The victory was important to the Mavericks’ chance of making the conference tournament. The Mavericks and Minnesota Crookston were tied for the eighth and final berth, and Minnesota State lost 88-74 at Minnesota Crookston in early January.
In the last 10 games, Trauger, who went over 1,000 points for her career last week, has averaged 19.0 points with six games of 20 or more points.
“She’s tough to defend,” coach Pam Gohl said. “She usually draws a smaller defender, and that baby hook is tough to stop. We were trying to figure out every way we could get her the ball. And her 3-point shooting has really picked up.”
Trauger started the game with a jump hook and scored 11 points in the first nine minutes as Minnesota State led 16-14. A couple of minutes later, Lauren Barber and Ali Wilkinson hit consecutive 3-pointers for a 22-20 lead.
The Mavericks’ biggest lead of the half came at 38-28 as Trauger scored twice from the lane and once from the 3-point arc in a 16-5 run.
Trauger ended the half with 20 points as the Mavericks led 38-34. She made 8 of 13 field goals, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and both free throws.
Minnesota State grew the lead to 65-46 with eight minutes remaining, with Barber hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Trauger padding her point total to 26 with a couple of jump hooks in a 12-point run. Minnesota Crookston ran off 14 consecutive points to close the gap, but Trauger hit a hook shot that started a game-deciding, eight-point blitz.
Trauger was 11 of 19 from the field, 2 of 5 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 at the free-throw line. Barber, who made four 3-pointers, had career-highs with 20 points and four assists, and Tiffany Moe had 10 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and five steals as the Mavericks won their second straight.
“Sometimes when you coach a young team, everybody kind of clicks together,” Gohl said. “Tonight, it looked like things started clicking.”
The Mavericks (12-9, 7-7 in Northern Sun) wrap up the homestand with a game at 6 p.m. today against Minnesota State-Moorhead, who topped the Mavericks 82-74 on Jan. 3.
“(The Moorhead) game is huge,” Trauger said. “We played two good halves (last Saturday), and we played two good halves tonight. We’re hitting our stride, but we still have to show up and play hard.”
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON 68
Zabel 4-9 1-1 10, Tyson 2-3 1-2 5, Wiese 8-16 2-3 22, Zelinsky 4-11 6-6 15, Taddy 0-3 2-2 2, Clemons 0-1 0-0 0, Van Ackeren 4-6 0-0 11, Jaroszewski 1-7 0-0 3, Kessler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-58 12-14 68.
MINNESOTA STATE 76
Weber 4-9 3-4 11, Trauger 11-19 4-4 28, Moe 3-7 4-6 10, Barber 7-11 2-3 20, Wiens 0-3 0-0 0, Haight 0-1 0-0 0, Noreen 1-5 0-0 3, Thiesfeld 0-2 1-2 1, Wilkinson 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 27-60 14-19 76.
Halftime: Minnesota State 38, Minnesota Crookston 34. 3-point shooting: Minnesota Crookston 10-24 (Zabel 1-2, Wiese 4-6, Zelinsky 1-5, Taddy 0-2, Van Ackeren 3-4, Jaroszewski 1-5), Minnesota State 8-19 (Trauger 2-5, Moe 0-1, Barber 4-7, Wiens 0-2, Noreen 1-1, Thiesfeld 0-2, Wilkinson 1-1). Rebounds: Minnesota Crookston 37 (Tyson, Wiese 6), Minnesota State 37 (Moe 7). Assists: Minnesota Crookston 15 (Zelinsky 7), Minnesota State 20 (Moe 8). Steals: Minnesota Crookston 4 (Zelinsky 2), Minnesota State 7 (Moe 5). Turnovers: Minnesota Crookston 14, Minnesota State 8. Total fouls: Minnesota Crookston 15, Minnesota State 16. Fouled out: none.
Attendance: 748.
