Box Score

ST. PAUL -- The Northwestern College women's basketball team won its fourth consecutive game on Saturday, taking sole possession of second place in the UMAC standings with a 75-69 victory over Bethany Lutheran College. Down 28-27 at halftime, NWC battled back with a one-turnover second period to claim a come-from-behind win.

The Eagles started out slow, finding themselves down 11-2 after six minutes had ticked off the clock. Things started to pick up for the Purple and Gold after that though, as Katie DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and Tanya Dickey (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) combined for nine straight points to tie the game at 13-13. Anna Cepak quickly put the Vikings up by four points before Northwestern took its first lead of the game on a DeWitt three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the half, giving the home team a 27-26 edge. Bethany's Caitlin Meyer made a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the period to send her team into the locker room with a one-point lead.

The Vikings continued to hold on to their three- to five-point buffer until back-to-back three-balls from Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) started a spree that quickly put the momentum in Northwestern's favor. Dickey followed Sir's treys with a three of her own and the Eagles found themselves ahead 51-45 with 10:49 to play. After each team traded free throws, Megan Myhre (Barnum, Minn./Barnum) (Barnum, Minn./Barnum) found paydirt from outside the three-point arc as well, giving Northwestern its largest lead of the game at 55-47. The Vikings came within two points down the stretch, but NWC went 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 65 seconds to seal the six-point victory.

Despite shooting 35 percent from the floor for the entire game, Northwestern was 11 for 22 from downtown, which was a major help as Bethany controlled the boards throughout. The Eagles posted 20 assists on 21 made baskets while scoring 16 points off of 12 Vikings turnovers. NWC's seven turnovers for the game was a season low.

DeWitt had her fourth straight game with 20 or more points, finishing Saturday's contest with 25 to go with seven rebounds and three assists. Dickey went a perfect 3-3 from behind the three-point line and 4-7 overall to add 15 points while Allison Johnson (Plymouth, Minn./Heritage Christian) contributed seven points and seven rebounds, four of which came on offense.

Cepek posted 18 points and 12 rebounds to record a double-double for Bethany Lutheran (8-9, 4-3 UMAC). Nicole Jones was one rebound shy of her own double-double with 20 points and nine boards.

With the win, Northwestern evened its season record at 9-9 overall while improving to 5-2 in conference play. The Eagles will take their four-game winning streak on the road next week, first to Crown College on Tuesday before heading north to the College of St. Scholastica and Northland College on Friday and Saturday. Tip-off in St. Bonifacius, Minn. on Tuesday will be at 5:30 p.m.