Box Score



ST. PAUL – Northwestern College outscored Bethany Lutheran by 14 points in the second half en route to a 73-59 victory over Bethany Lutheran College to remain undefeated in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles received a combination of 37 points from Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) and Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) to go 3-0 to start the UMAC schedule for the first time since 2007-08.

Northwestern and the visitor Vikings were tied 25-25 at halftime. NWC had a seven-point point edge early on at 9-2, but Bethany Lutheran followed with seven straight points to tie the game. The Vikings then continued with their run, finishing with a 12-1 run to lead 14-10. Down by six points with 8:43 to play, Northwestern went on a run of its own to retake the lead at 23-22 over the course of the next five minutes. Three free throws between the two squads knotted the score as NWC and Bethany Lutheran went into their respective locker rooms for a chat.

After each team got an early bucket in the second period, Northwestern went on a tear, scoring 15 points, with Sir and Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) picking up baskets from both inside and outside of the three-point arc. Becca Kendrick (Eagan, Minn./Bethany Academy) hit a trey that extended NWC's lead to a game-high 20 points with just under nine minutes to play. The buffer stayed within the realm of 16 to 20 points until Bethany scored some late-game baskets that resulted in a 14-point final difference.

Northwestern finished 27-62 (43.5 percent) from the floor for the game, making six of 15 attempts from downtown. The Eagles' defense had a hand in Bethany's 20-of-74 shooting performance (27 percent), despite the Vikings owning a 26-22 margin in rebounding.

Madson led all players with 19 points on 7-12 shooting with Sir right behind her at 18 points, adding six assists in the win. Smith pulled down a double-double, scoring 11 points to go with 10 rebounds. Shelby Wiederhoeft had 18 points and 16 boards for BLC (3-11, 1-2 UMAC), who had three players grab 15 or more rebounds in the game.

The victory matched NWC's season win total from all of 2011-12 while improving the Eagles' mark to 8-6 overall (3-0 UMAC). Northwestern will face its toughest league competition yet when the Eagles head west to Morris, Minn. next Friday for their fourth UMAC game of the year as the Cougars were conference co-champions a season ago. Friday's tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.