Box Score

MORRIS, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team was unable to recover from a slow offensive first-half on Saturday afternoon, eventually dropping a 67-54 contest to the University of Minnesota Morris. The Eagles overcame their early woes to double their halftime scoring total, but an early run from the Cougars would leave the home team on top.

UMM jumped out to an early five-point lead until Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood)'s jumper would find success at the 17:34 mark. As the early minutes played out Northwestern fought back from the small deficit thanks to five consecutive points by Tiffany Stubbs (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) and led 9-8 with the clock reading 13:36.

The makes came few and far between for both teams as time rolled by, with the home team increasing its margin to 22-16 and 24-17 late in the period. UNW struggled to find a rhythm offensively and made its final shot from the floor with 9:24 left to play, posting an overall offensive mark of .241, including a 2-11 rate from three-point range.

Fortunately for the Snelling Avenue North crew, the second half saw a much different squad in terms of offensive production as the Eagles shook off the early ice. While the Cougars continued their upper hand, the deficit was cut to eight points as a result of Courtney Cunard (Missouri Valley, Iowa/Missouri Valley)'s trey with 13:10 left to play.

While the margin remained in double-digits as time continued to tick by, the Purple and Gold continued to pressure with offensive production that doubled the first half outcome. Two-straight makes by Sir would bring the game within 12 points at the 1:49 and 1:01 timestamps, but it was too little, too late and the game ended in favor of the Cougars, 67-54.

UNW posted a 37-point second period en route to a 42.4 offensive percentage and overall mark of 33.9%, besting its opponent's result in the same category. Sir and Stubbs led their squad with 13 points and five field goals apiece. Cunard also chipped in with 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.

With Saturday's outcome, Northwestern moves to an overall record of 14-6, 6-3 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play. With the win, Minnesota Morris moves in to sole possession of first place in league standings, while Martin Luther College and the College of St. Scholastica stand between the Cougars and Eagles in the team standings.

UNW will now return home for the remainder of the 2013-2014 regular season as the team will take on Bethany Lutheran College on Friday, February 14th at 5:30 p.m. Saturday will also feature a home contest for Northwestern with Martin Luther College traveling to the Ericksen Center for a 3 p.m. tipoff. Both live stats and a video streams for the contest can be found here.