Box Score

ST. PAUL – Northwestern had its chances as the game's final minutes ticked off the clock, but the Eagles finished their regular season with a 68-63 loss to the College of St. Scholastica in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week. The Eagles were within three points with 1:10 to go, but a UNW turnover followed by a pair of made free throws by the Saints gave St. Scholastica the win and hosting rights in next week's UMAC Tournament semifinal.

Saturday's game was a battle with few points separating the teams on the scoreboard throughout the entire 40-minute contest. As soon as Northwestern took a lead, it seemed as though the Saints would answer right back. UNW snagged an early lead at 7-2, but neither team led by more than three points for the rest of the initial half. The Eagles looked poised to go into the locker room with a 38-35 halftime lead after back-to-back makes at the free throw line by Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood), but Sammy Doucette hit a last-second three-pointer for St. Scholastica as the buzzer sounded to knot the score at 38 points apiece.

St. Scholastica went on a run to start the second half, using a Mariah Hovick layup and consecutive three-balls from Danica Schellbach to go up 47-40. The Saints' run continued as Emily Glomski hit a pair of jumpers to make it an 11-0 spree for the visitors on the scoreboard before Northwestern finally received a basket from Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) to stop the burst. Slowly from there, the Eagles started to chip away at the St. Scholastica margin, but every time UNW was able to get some life with a made basket, the Saints came back with a big basket, often times a three-pointer, to keep their distance. Trailing by nine, Sir hit a jump shot before going perfect in two opportunities at the charity stripe to bring the Purple and Gold within five. Sir was good for another layup with 1:10 left to play and suddenly Northwestern was within a possession of their opponent at 66-63. Cue the last minute Eagles turnover and St. Scholastica's free throw makes, and the Saints left the Ericksen Center gym with a five-point victory.

Northwestern certainly had its chances late in the game, but couldn't buy a bucket down the stretch. In addition to nine downtown misses in the afternoon's final 10 minutes, the Eagles committed four turnovers with less than five minutes to go. UNW went 10 of 32 in the second half, but shot a dismal 1 of 12 from behind the three-point arc at the same time before settling at a 37 percent mark overall for the entire game.

Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) and Sir each scored 16 points to lead Northwestern, with Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) picking up her seventh double-double of the season with a 15-point, 10 rebound performance on Saturday.

Three different St. Scholastica players made three or more treys in the game, with Schellbach going 3-4 from downtown and Elena Huber 4-8 from the same distance. As a team, the Saints (16-9, 11-3 UMAC) were nearly even with the Eagles in terms of overall shooting percentage, but it was the difference in three-point shooting that ultimately separated the two teams.

The loss drops Northwestern to 18-7 overall and wraps up the Eagles' conference slate at 10-4. UNW slipped into the UMAC Tournament's No. 3 seed, meaning Northwestern will play a familiar foe – St. Scholastica – in Wednesday's first round. The only difference will be a change of scenery as the Saints will host the 7:30 p.m. tipoff in Duluth, Minn.