Box Score

ST. PAUL – The Northwestern College women's basketball team saw its season come to a close in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal round Wednesday night, falling to the #3 seed Martin Luther College. The Eagles cut the Knights advantage to single digits within the last minute of play, but it was too little, too late as the visitors secured a 78-72 victory.

NWC trailed early, being held scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of play before Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) put the home team on the scoreboard for the first time at the 17:03 mark, bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of the Eagles. Following the bucket, MLC quickly took over the lead and held it until 13:26 remained in the first period, when a triple by Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) evened the odds at 11-11. Northwestern would once again cut into the lead with just over half of the first period remaining courtesy of another Sir trey, but the Knights controlled the game until the final minute before intermission as a Madson long-range make found gold and provided  the host school with a 35-34 upper hand heading into the locker room.

The Knights came out of the gates strong in the second half, owning the momentum from the get-go as their buffer began to mount. At the 14:19 point, a Sara Willems layup gave MLC a double-digit lead before the Eagles whittled away at the margin and brought the game within four after yet another Sir successful downtown attempt. The two teams exchanged baskets on both ends of the floor, with Martin Luther maintaining lead security throughout the second period. A Sir make in the lane closed the gap to a single possession, but more points by the visitors once again stretched the score to 66-55 with 3:34 ticking off the clock.

As the final minutes wound down, the visitors from New Ulm, Minn. notched their largest upper hand of the night, a 15 point margin, which would be cut down to single digits within the final minute of regulation. Northwestern pushed for a late run with Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo), Kim Campbell (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy), and Sir all contributing, but the effort was unable to turn the tables, ending both the game and the Eagles' season by a 78-72 margin.
A bright spot on the evening proved to be the offensive play of Sir and Madson who put up 27 and 22 points respectively. Hannah Holm (Charlotte, N.C./GRACE School) and Fife made their presences known on the boards, racking up double-digit totals. Martin Luther won the battle of team shooting, as the Knights finished with a .508 shooting percentage, including a .556 mark from beyond the arc in comparison to NWC's .377 and .395 success rates from the same area.

With the loss, Northwestern ends the campaign with a 16-10 overall record, an eight-win improvement from last season. Additionally, the Eagles finished second in UMAC action and picked up the #2 seed in playoffs, just one year after not qualifying for postseason play. The night meant the end of the chapter for NWC senior Holm, who ended her time in a Purple and Gold uniform.

With the victory, Martin Luther will move on to Saturday's UMAC Tournament Championship and take on the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal contest between the University of Minnesota Morris and the College of St. Scholastica.