Box Score

MANKATO, Minn. -- Down by 16 points midway through the second half, the Northwestern College women's basketball team fought back against Bethany Lutheran College on Saturday before ultimately losing 81-76. The Eagles received a career-high 24-point performance from freshman Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) in the loss.

After an initial spree from the Vikings, Northwestern rallied to lead by five after an 11-0 run that was sparked by Kasie Shoberg (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes)'s three-pointer. Bethany started to chip away at the Eagles' advantage before a back-and-forth battle ensued with each team taking leads of one and two points over the course of the next 10 minutes. Following a 23-22 Eagles advantage, Jade Pelzl, Amanda Edmison and Alyssa Blume hit consecutive treys to quickly give the home team an eight-point edge. Bethany continued its run with back-to-back jumpers to increase their lead to 12 before shots from Madson and Shoberg knocked the buffer down to eight at the half.

Then came the Vikings' onslaught early in the second period, when Bethany Lutheran padded its lead to 15 and 16. Madson hit a three-pointer at 16:51 to cut the lead to 47-38, but Pelzl and her teammates answered back with three made baskets to increase the margin to 54-38 within a minute and a half. With the Vikings lead still at 16 with 7:46 left on the clock, NWC started to chip away. Madson hit a jumper, followed soon thereafter by a three-pointer from Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) to cut the lead to 10. A few minutes later, Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) hit four straight free throws to make it a 78-71 game before a Shoberg three put the Eagles within four. Sir followed with a layup and Northwestern found itself just two points away from the lead with 25 seconds left on the clock. But the NWC spree ended there, as a trio of Vikings free throws ended the Eagles' hopes with an 81-76 final score.

Madson, who made eight of her 17 shots on the day, was joined in double figures by four of her teammates. Sir finished with 13 points, while Fife was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down nine boards. As a team, the Eagles played smart basketball, as evidenced by their nine turnovers in the game. NWC finished at 42 percent shooting, but Bethany's 12-rebound advantage turned into 27 second chance points.

Pelzl had 19 points for the Vikings after making seven of her 11 attempts. Englund added 16 points and 15 points in Bethany Lutheran's win.

NWC, now 5-13 overall and 2-5 in UMAC play, will quickly regroup before hosting three games in the Ericksen Center next week. The Eagles will face Crown College on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 5:30 p.m. before welcoming the College of St. Scholastica and Northland College next Friday and Saturday.