MORRIS, Minn. – Northwestern College held on tightly nearly until the end, but it was the University of Minnesota, Morris who came away from Saturday evening's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship a winner by an 82-74 final score. The Eagles received a 37-point performance from Katie DeWitt (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial), but couldn't contain the Cougars' second-chance points as NWC's 2010-11 campaign came to a close.

Northwestern kept the score close early on, staying within a point at 8-7 within the game's first five minutes. After Morris had built a seven-point lead over the course of the next four minutes, the Eagles scored six straight points and eventually found themselves up 28-26 after a three-pointer from Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood). The Cougars closed the half with a 5-0 run to lead 31-28 at the break.

After Northwestern's Allison Johnson (Plymouth, Minn./Heritage Christian) (Plymouth, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) started the second period with a layup, Morris answered right back with a made basket of their own and more as the home team established a five- to seven-point buffer over the next several minutes. The Eagles' Megan Myhre (Barnum, Minn./Barnum) (Barnum, Minn./Barnum) cut the lead to three with a jumper at the 8:49 mark, but the tournament's top seed followed with an 11-5 run to lead 64-54 with just over five minutes left to play. The Cougars' edge increased to as much as 14 before NWC started battling back. Morris made the most of its free throw opportunities in the final minutes though, and the regular season UMAC champion was soon on its way to winning a tournament championship and the UMAC's first-ever automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament.

Both Northwestern and Minnesota-Morris hovered around a 50-percent shooting mark. The Eagles finished 7-18 from behind the three-point line while the Cougars (21-6) were just a few numbers better at 6-14. The taller Morris squad took advantage of a 35-26 margin in rebounds while committing just 11 turnovers in the game.

DeWitt, who had yet to face the Cougars this season after dealing with injuries during both regular season affairs, was the only Eagles player in double figures. The senior wrapped up her collegiate career with a 14-24 performance, making three of her seven attempts from behind the three point line. Kristin Szcublewski (Pierz, Minn./Pierz) added nine points and five assists for NWC, followed by Johnson and Myhre, who each had eight points in the loss.

Minnesota, Morris' Steph Roggenbuck turned in a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to earn the tournament's most valuable player award. Emily Mehr chipped in 16 points, while Jenni Noordmans and Tara Thielke each added 14.

Northwestern's season wraps up at 16-11 overall while the team went 11-3 in UMAC play throughout the regular season.