Box Score

MORRIS, Minn. – In a surprisingly lopsided result, the University of Northwestern women's basketball team defeated the University of Minnesota Morris 71-33 in the UMAC Tournament championship game on Saturday to advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history. The Eagles shot 49 percent in the game and an impressive 65 percent from behind the three-point arc, but equally staggering was the No. 1 seeded Cougars' 20 percent shooting mark.

Northwestern, the tournament's third seed, didn't waste time putting points on the board as Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) and Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) had success both inside and out, helping the Eagles jump out to a 7-1 lead in the first five minutes.  More threes helped the UNW lead reach double digits before 16 minutes had ticked off the clock, and Northwestern found itself in control by 18 when Madson drained her third trey of the game at the 4:25 mark of the first half. After starting the game 1-21 from the floor, Morris finally started to make a few baskets, but Courtney Cunard (Missouri Valley, Iowa/Missouri Valley)'s downtown make with 12 seconds left in the period sent the Purple-clad Eagles into the locker room with a 29-12 edge.

The Cougars cut the lead to 12 early in the second half as Morris' Emily Auch found success in the paint, but Northwestern's Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) added a pair of layups of her own to get the Eagles' buffer back to 18. Things continued to go UNW's way from there as an Emily Van Lith (Minot, N.D./Our Redeemers) basket pushed the UNW lead to 21. Tori Holt made a bucket for Morris at the 10:47 point to get the margin back under 20, but Northwestern followed it with an 11-0 run as Kim Campbell (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy)'s three-point basket put the visitors on the scoreboard in charge by 30.

Holt's make midway through the period was Morris' last field goal of the game as the Cougars' final three points were comprised of free throws. Meanwhile, the Northwestern bench players continued to find success from the outside en route to the 38-point win.

11 different Eagles players scored in the game with five of them making three-point baskets. Madson finished 5-7 from long range to lead Northwestern with 15 points, while Sir, who entered the game ranked 15th in the nation for three-point field goals per game, went 0-1 from downtown but made four baskets inside the arc to score 11 points while dishing out nine assists. Courtney Cunard (Missouri Valley, Iowa/Missouri Valley) contributed eight points and an equal number of rebounds in the victory.

Holt had a double-double for Morris, scoring 10 points to go with 11 rebounds. The Cougars committed 22 turnovers on the night compared to just seven assists.

Northwestern, who earned its 20th win of the season for the first time in 12 years, returns home to rest on Sunday before discovering its NCAA pathway in a 1:30 p.m. selection show on Monday, March 3 that will be broadcasted on NCAA.com.