Box Score

MORRIS, Minn. -- Jim Gremmels Court didn't play too nice to the Northwestern College women's basketball team on Saturday as the Eagles fell to the University of Minnesota Morris 85-52. Morris, who is currently tied atop the UMAC standings, was led by Emily Mehr, who earned her 1,000^th point in the first half.

Northwestern kept pace with the Cougars for the first five minutes, but things quickly spiraled out of control for the visitors after that. After the Eagles' Kristin Sczublewski (Pierz, Minn./Pierz) made a layup to put the Purple and Gold up by two, Morris responded with eight straight points. The onslaught continued, and the Cougars found themselves winning by 15 after Jenni Noordmans' three ball made the score 37-22 with 7:15 to play in the first half. By the time the horn sounded at halftime, NWC was down 22, facing an uphill battle for the next 20 minutes.

Northwestern kept the home team in check for the first part of the second period, but unable to do much damage on the scoreboard. Morris hit a collection of consecutive shots down the stretch, turning their advantage into a 30-point margin on Karlee Erickson's layup at the 9:42 mark. By the end of the day, the Cougars owned an 85-52 buffer to maintain their first place status.

Morris shot lights out throughout the game, finishing at 65 percent overall and 64 percent from behind the three-point line. Northwestern countered with a 40-percent performance, but only went to the free throw line on two separate occasions. Despite the Eagles winning the turnover battle, the Cougars out-scored NWC 20-10 on points off of turnovers.

Sczublewski led Northwestern with 15 points on 7-9 shooting, while Kasie Shoberg (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes) scored a career-high 12 points while grabbing four rebounds. Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) also added 10 points for Northwestern.

Mehr finished with 28 points for the Cougars. Noordmans had a 16-point performance and Kendra Wykoff scored 15 points.

Now 8-15 overall (5-7 UMAC), the Eagles must win both of their games next weekend to have a chance of advancing to the conference tournament. Northwestern is currently on the outside of the four-team race in the No. 5 spot, but could sneak in with a pair of wins and two Morris victories at the same time. NWC will start its weekend with a 5:30 p.m. game against Bethany Lutheran College on Friday, Feb. 17 in the Ericksen Center.