St. Bonifacius, Minn. –
Dominique Urbina's 45 point explosion propelled the Crown women's basketball team to a season opening win over St. Scholastica on Wednesday night, earning new head coach
Leah Szabla a win in her debut. The junior guard's big night is the highest scoring output for any basketball player at Crown in any era, men's or women's, on record.
Urbina torched the Saints in every way imaginable, shooting 16-23 from the field, including a 2-4 mark from beyond the arc and added eleven free throws on 15 attempts. She also finished with five boards and six assists, with only two turnovers, in 38 minutes of play.
Urbina stole the show, but sophomore
McKenzie Latzke had a big night as well, scoring 20 points including five made three pointers.
Amy Martius had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Crown was down one at half, 43-42, and the Saints pulled ahead by five thanks to back to back layups to start the third quarter. Latzke responded with back to back threes as Crown took the lead. Scholastica briefly got back in front by a point, but a 16-3 Crown run led to a 12 point lead through three quarters.
Crown showed incredible maturity in the fourth, managing the game flawlessly as the visitors never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. Urbina scored eight in the fourth quarter, six of them coming at the foul line, and twice was serenaded with chants of "M-V-P" from the home crowd.
Crown outrebounded the Saints 46-39, thanks in large part to 14 offensive rebounds, and held a 43.1% to 37.7% advantage in field goal percentage. Crown finished with 14 assists, to just 12 turnovers, and forced 15 turnovers for St. Scholastica.
The new era of Crown women's basketball got off to an amazing start and the atmosphere and celebrations in the Wild Athletic Center matched the incredible performance on the court. The Storm are back at home on Saturday for a matchup with Free Lutheran Bible College. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
