Dubuque gets hot, burns Eagles at UW-Eau Claire Holiday Classic

Box Score

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. -- After defeating host-UW-Eau Claire the night before, the Northwestern College women's basketball team couldn't match the University of Dubuque in the Eau Claire Holiday Classic championship game, as the Eagles fell to the Spartans 84-67.

After Ariel Liesch (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) made a three-pointer to boost NWC's lead to eight points with 6:55 to play in the first half, Dubuque scored 12 straight points to lead 36-32 in a span of three and a half minutes. The Spartans closed out the initial 20 minutes with a 5-1 run to go into halftime with a 41-35 lead.

Things got worse for the Eagles as the second half began, as Dubuque's lead increased to double digits within the first four minutes. Despite a 26-point performance from Katie DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), NWC couldn't stop Jennifer Nichols, Mollie Whiting and the rest of the Spartans as Dubuque claimed the tournament title with an 84-67 win.

Northwestern shot 47 percent from the field and stayed with their opponents in both shooting and rebounding throughout the entire contest, but the Spartans made 14 three-point attempts in the game to lift themselves over the Eagles.

DeWitt and Allison Johnson (Plymouth, Minn./Heritage Christian) (Greenfield, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) each had eight rebounds in the game, while Liesch scored 12 points to go with DeWitt's 26. Kaelee Kendrick (Eagan, Minn./Bethany Academy) (Eagan, Minn./Bethany Academy) also put in solid work for the Eagles, scoring five points and grabbing seven rebounds.

Nichols and Whiting each made four three-pointers for Dubuque, leading their team with 21 and 15 points respectively.

Northwestern falls to 3-3 on the season with the loss, while Dubuque currently stands at 4-2 on the season. The Eagles will return to their home court in the Ericksen Center next weekend to open their UMAC conference schedule. The College of St. Scholastica is first on NWC's list of league opponents, and the Eagles and Saints will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4.

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