ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team advanced to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship game following a 60-53 victory over Martin Luther College on Wednesday evening. The Eagles, the tournament's top seed, used a push late in the first half to go into the locker room with a double-digit lead, which turned out to be necessary in what finished as a seven-point win. UNW will host the University of Minnesota Morris, its fellow UMAC Regular Season Co-Champion, on Saturday.

Northwestern took some time to gain momentum in the first half, but once things started to go the Eagles' way, it returned big dividends. After a back-and-forth game early on, the Knights gabbed a two-point lead – Martin Luther's lone advantage of the night – on Faith Schroeder's bucket in the paint seven minutes into the night. UNW answered with a 9-1 run, with six of those points coming from senior Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove). The Knights crept within a point, but the Eagles were off and running again, turning a slim 16-15 margin into 35-20 at halftime. Madson had a solid first half performance, turning in 18 points on 7-10 shooting in the initial 20 minutes.

Regan Cooper (Pella, Iowa/Pella)'s layup 1:18 into the second period bumped UNW's buffer to 17, and Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) capped her team's lead at 20 with a three-pointer before Martin Luther slowly started to inch closer yet again. Mariah Schoof hit a trey of her own to get MLC with 16, then Hailey Johnson added to the three-point dynamite to ultimately get the Knights within 10 with 11:31 left in regulation. Cooper continued to work in the post, bumping Northwestern back up to a 16-point upper hand with layups and free throws, but Martin Luther wouldn't go away without a fight as the Knights had it down to a two-possession game in the final minute. Smith and Cooper were golden at the charity stripe as UNW fended off its opponent to effectively book a third date with the Cougars from Minnesota Morris this year.

Cooper's 13-point, seven-rebound effort in the second half translated into a matching 15-point, 15 rebound line for the junior, who notched her fifth double-double of the 2014-2015 campaign. As a team, Northwestern didn't shoot the ball that great, coming in at 35.7 percent (20-56), four points below its season average. Madson finished with a game-high 21 points, while Smith was a mere point away from her second triple-double of the season as the senior was good for 10 rebounds, 10 blocks and nine points.

Erin Schmeling was Martin Luther's only player to record double figures, leading the Knights (9-16) with 11 points. Three different MLC players grabbed 10 or more rebounds in the game, as the visitor on the scoreboard pulled down 23 offensive boards compared to 28 on the defensive end.

Now 17-9 overall, Northwestern will quickly start its study and practice sessions on Minnesota Morris in anticipation of Saturday's game, of which the winner will earn the right to advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Each team won on its own home court with the last bout between the Eagles and Cougars coming last Friday in the Ericksen Center. Saturday's tipoff time will be determined by the Northwestern men's result against St. Scholastica later on Wednesday.