Box Score

ST, PAUL, Minn., Nov. 27, 2007 – Call it déjà vu if you will. In their quest for victory No. 1 in the 2007-08 season, the Northwestern College women's basketball team let a 52-45 lead with 3:19 left to play slip away, as the Eagles went scoreless while Viterbo scored 11 straight points to win 56-52 on Tuesday evening. The game was almost a mirror image of last year's contest between the two teams, as the V-Hawks scored 10 unanswered points in the final 3:31 to hand the Eagles a loss.

A season-high 52 points wasn't enough, as the NWC defense collapsed on all ends. Seven of Viterbo's final 11 points came on free throws, proving the charity stripe's worth.

After a 25-25 tie at half time, the Eagles came from behind in the second half, slowly building up their seven-point lead mid-way through the period before going cold.

Northwestern had their best shooting night, nailing 48.8 percent of their attempts from the floor. A 10-for-15 effort in the first half didn't hurt, as Linda Shuck's crew shot 66.7 percent in the first half to throttle themselves the rest of the game. The V-Hawks made a third of their shots, going 18-of-54 in the Ericksen Center.

Viterbo (2-6) turned their shooting struggles into a strong rebounding advantage, as they brought down 40 boards – 22 of which were offensive, producing 16 second-chance points. Northwestern countered with 25 rebounds in the game.

The loss put a damper on solid performances by Northwestern's Rachael Bohnen (Grand Marais, MN/Cook County High School) (Grand Marais, Minn./Cook County) and Marcy Nelson (Sandstone, Minn./East Central) (Sandstone, Minn./East Central). Bohnen led the Eagles with 14 points and six rebounds, while Nelson netted four three-pointers for 12 points while adding six rebounds. At one time, Nelson was 4-for-4 from behind the arc before missing her final three attempts.

Joni Stanek was 8-of-10 for 20 points to lead the V-Hawks, while Katina Mandylaris added 12 points.

Northwestern (0-5) will take their campaign on the road for the upcoming weekend, when they travel to the Chicago area for a tournament hosted by Judson University. The Eagles will face Davenport (Mich.) at 2 p.m. on Friday, followed by a Saturday contest that will be determined based upon Friday's results.