ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team a 70-58 victory over Finlandia University Friday night. Leading the lions throughout the whole game, UNW kept possession and capitalized on their shots, shooting 42 percent for the night.

Finlandia was the first to place three points on the board, but UNW's Regan Cooper (Pella, Iowa/Osseo) quickly responded putting five consecutive points up for the Eagles thanks to three free throws and an offensive rebound in the first three minutes. With both teams tied at nine, Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) drained a three pointer, stole possession and executed a lay-up— all within seconds, launching the Eagles to a 12-9 lead just before the first visitor full time-out was called at 13:04. With momentum building in the home team's favor, Northwestern gained a 18-9 lead over the Lions with 11 minutes left in the half.

A Chanel Madsen three-pointer added to their advantage with 10:30 on the clock. Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) entered the game and quickly contributed to the run with a jumper with nine minutes remaining and Tiffany Stubbs (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) also felt the home court heat with her first three pointer of the night. Finlandia continued to struggle to fill the gap but added a few points to the board with a 28-20 deficit. With a shot clock violation, the Eagles added their ninth turnover of the half, but Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) stole back momentum with a block with five minutes left in the period. Kim Campbell (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) executed on a pair of free throws at 5:04 and 3:49, adding her four points to the mix, putting the Eagles up 32-20. Madsen adding a layup put the Purple and Gold at 36-22. Northwestern ended the half at 41-22, the largest buffer of the first period.

UNW's Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) came out of the locker room strong with two consecutive steals, responding with a layup at 18:52 and a jumper at 18:37. Cooper added three points with a fouled lay-up, capitalizing on her solo free throw at 16:40. Finlandia called a full time-out at 15:55 as they trailed 48-27. Head coach Aaron Kahl took his first timeout of the game for the Eagles, leading the Lions 48-33 with 12 minutes left in the game.

With seven minutes left, the top scorer of the night, Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) left the game with an injury. Rachel Hart (Elgin, Minn./Home School) came in with a crucial block at 6:20, and with just under five minutes remaining, Madsen added two points to the board off of free throws to increase their lead to 58-46. The Lions gained momentum after head coach Terry Klemett's full timeout with four minutes remaining in the game, lowering the deficit to 58-50. Campbell executed a steal and took advantage of the fast break at 2 minutes putting the Eagles up 65-52. The Ericksen Center erupted when Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) added a momentum-building block with a little over a minute left in the period, followed by two good free throws by Campbell. Campbell ended the night 9-11 at the charity stripe. Unable to keep up with the home team's final stretch, Finlandia ended the night with a 70-58 loss to the home team in their ACR Homes Tip-off Tournament.

Northwestern's strong rebounding proved effective tonight with a total of 45. Finlandia ended the night shooting 29.6 percent. Top scorers for the Lions included Marissa Burke with 22, and Julia Daavitala and B. Ruska-Pasanen with ten apiece.

For the Eagles, Madson finished with a 14-point game, with Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) securing 19 points and Regan Cooper (Pella, Iowa/Osseo) with 10 points— the three Eagles to walk away with double digit numbers for tonight's contest.

UNW (2-1) will return to the Ericksen Center tomorrow night to finish this weekend's tip-off tournament against Hamline University, another nonconference match-up. Hamline will enter tomorrow's contest with a 2-1 overall record so far in the 2014-2015 season. Tipoff between the Eagles and Pipers will start at 5 p.m.