Box Score


ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team picked up its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, dropping a nonconference matchup with Augsburg College by a 55-42 margin. The Eagles struggled to create momentum offensively, turning the ball over 30 times and making just 12 field goal attempts in 40 minutes of action. Senior Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) finished just shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds, carrying much of the weight of her squad on offense.

UNW started the game on top as Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) nailed the first three of the contest at the 18:19 mark, soon followed by a Courtney Cunard (Missouri Valley, Iowa/Missouri Valley) triple to double the advantage. The visitors made their own presence felt forcing the game back to a tie, but the Eagles would yet again lead 13-8 at the 12:41 mark thanks to a Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) trey.

Augsburg began to own possession of the game with just over seven minutes left as the visitors began a 16-1 run that would change end the half with a 31-17 score. In the first 20 minutes of action, the Auggies notched 20 points in the paint in comparison to no successful attempts by UNW, while the Eagles struggled to hang on to the ball and totaled 19 turnovers.

The second half saw improvement on the Purple and Gold's end of the floor in terms of offense, but the Augsburg lead maintained throughout the period. Queue the 2:22 mark and the Eagles had fought back from being down 23 points, cutting the lead to 13, but it was too little too little for the home team. As the buzzer sounded, UNW trailed by a margin of 55-42.

The Eagles were led in the final 20 minutes by Fife who secured seven rebounds and 16 points during that time span, while Sir also ended up in double figures with 12 for the game.

After a three contests in the past seven days, Northwestern (3-1 overall) will have a few days of rest before playing again on Tuesday, November 26 as the team travels south on Snelling Avenue for a 6 p.m. matchup with Hamline University.