WILLMAR -- Sophomore guard Briana Goldschmidt drained three of her four 3-pointers in a crucial first-half stretch for Willmar and finished with 12 points as the Cardinals rallied to upend Central Lakes Conference foe St. Cloud Apollo 53-44 Thursday.
St. Cloud Apollo (3-3, 5-6) took a quick 12-6 lead before Willmar (5-2, 7-4) bounced back.
The Cardinals took advantage of eight Eagles' turnovers to outscore the visitors 29-4 in the final 10:38 of the first half.
The Cardinals dialed long distance for the rally, sinking four treys in the run, three alone from Goldschmidt.
"In that last 10 minutes of the first half I think we played as well as we have all year offensively," said Willmar coach Brad Atchison. "We passed and shot well (in that stretch)."
ADVERTISEMENT
Sophomore guard Megan Brown nailed a long jumper in the right corner to put Willmar ahead for good at 13-12 with 9:16 left in the first half. Another long-range jumper from Brown in between two 3-pointers from Goldschmidt kept the Cardinals rolling.
"We were trying to go down low to Laura (Nielsen), but they were bottling her up and we hit some outside shots," said Goldschmidt, who has connected on seven 3-pointers in the last two games.
The Eagles turned 12 Willmar turnovers in the second half into 13 points to pull within 48-40 with 2:26 remaining, but senior guard Dana Guetter made four free throws in 17 seconds to seal the win for Willmar.
"St. Cloud Apollo did a good job on Laura and we weren't hitting our shots in the second half to let them get back in there," said Atchison. "But we got some key baskets and Katie Holmgren came up big on the offensive boards all during the game."
Nielsen finished with 12 points while Holmgren collected 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Willmar 53, SC Apollo 44
SC Apollo (3-3, 5-6) 16 28 -- 44
Willmar (5-2, 7-4) 35 18 -- 53
ADVERTISEMENT
ST. CLOUD APOLLO - 18-40 FG (5-12 3 pt); 3-11 FT; 15 rebounds; 15 fouls ... Scoring: Andrea Hagberg 15, Britta Hagberg 2, Kelsey Van Ackeren 8, Amanda Welle 15, Brooke Dunsmoor 4 ... 3-point shots: A. Hagberg 2, Welle 3 ... Rebound leader: Van Ackeren 5 ... Assist leader: Van Ackeren 3 ... Steal leader: Van Ackeren 3
WILLMAR - 19-48 FG (5-17 3 pt); 8-14 FT; 25 rebounds; 13 fouls ... Scoring: Megan Brown 4, Dana Guetter 6, Hannah Okins 3, Shelby Warner 2, Briana Goldschmidt 12, Katie Holmgren 11, Lisa Nielsen 3, Laura Nielsen 12 ... 3-point shots: Goldschmidt 4, Okins 1 ... Rebound leaders: Holmgren 8, Laura Nielsen 7 ... Assist leaders: Goldschmidt 4, Holmgren 4, Brown 3, Brin Hanson 3 ... Steal leaders: Brown 4, Laura Nielsen 3
NEXT -- Willmar: Saturday at Moorhead, 1 p.m.
