Box Score
DULUTH, Minn. – They say it's hard to beat a team three times in a season. That line proved to be true for the College of St. Scholastica on Thursday night as the University of Northwestern defeated the host-Saints in a UMAC Tournament semifinal to advance to a Saturday date with the University of Minnesota Morris. The Eagles broke a 48-48 tie with a 15-2 run in the final 5:48 to defeat the second-seeded Saints for the first time this year.
Trailing by five points midway through the first half, Northwestern's
Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) used a three-pointer to spark a 12-0 Eagles run that put UNW up by seven. When Elena Huber cut the Purple's newfound buffer to four with a downtown make of her own, the Eagles answered right back with a
Hannah Holm (Charlotte, N.C./GRACE School) layup and two free throws from
Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) to put the visitors back in control 25-17. That lead started to dwindle though as Caitlin McKernon and the rest of the Saints squad started to pound the ball down low before Emily Glomski's jumper with 2:28 on the first half clock tied the score at 29 points apiece. Sir drained a three-pointer that ultimately put Northwestern ahead 32-31 at the halftime break.
St. Scholastica pushed itself back into control early in the second half, using a Brittani Brennan trey to lead by five with 13:41 to go. Sir used more free throws and a jumper of her own to keep the Eagles within striking distance, and
Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo)'s layup at the 8:50 mark gave UNW a one-point margin. The Saints weren't going to go away without a fight, and Sammy Doucette's three to tie the game at 48-48 proved it. But Northwestern started to feed Fife and others on the inside, and the Eagles started to run away as time ticked off the clock. Fife scored a layup to give UNW a lead that it would never look back on and the next six points, and suddenly Northwestern found itself up by a 58-50 mark on a make in the paint by Madson. St. Scholastica was forced to foul shortly thereafter and the Eagles went 5-6 from the charity stripe to earn a trip to Morris, Minn. on Saturday for the UMAC Tournament title game.
The Eagles hardly had their best shooting performance of the season at 33.8 percent and a 19 percent success rate from behind the three-point line, but UNW was successful in limiting the Saints to the same opportunities as CSS produced percentages of 30 and 19. Neither team could seem to buy a long range bucket as the two combined to go 10-52 from downtown. Northwestern took advantages of St. Scholastica's mistakes though, producing 20 points off of 14 Saints turnovers while winning the battle in the paint.
Fife finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds, both of which were game-best marks for either team. Sir scored 15 points, while Holm added 12 points and seven boards.
Huber was the only St. Scholastica player to score in double digits as she wrapped up the night, and her season, with 10 points. Schellbach grabbed 11 rebounds for the Saints (16-10).
Northwestern, now 19-7, will head west to face the top-seeded Cougars on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Eagles were the only UMAC team to beat Minnesota Morris in the regular season, setting up a showcase whose winner will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
