Box Score

OSHKOSH, Wis. – Northwestern gave Washington University of St. Louis a strong run for its money in the Eagles' first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament game, ultimately losing to the fifth-ranked Bears 64-47. UNW led by as much as six in the first half but couldn't overcome strong shooting by Washington down the stretch in a game that was closer than the final score portrayed.



Northwestern head coach Aaron Kahl couldn't have asked for a much better first half from his team. Despite committing 13 turnovers in the initial 20 minutes, the Eagles were finding success shooting while staying even with the taller and bigger Bears team on the boards. UNW got early three-pointers from Mollie Sir (Cresco, Iowa/Crestwood) and Courtney Cunard (Missouri Valley, Iowa/Missouri Valley) to lead 10-5 in the early goings. The Bears turned to their strength, scoring in the paint, to hang in with the Eagles, but a Chanel Madson (Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove) layup followed by Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy)'s one-for-two at the free throw line had Northwestern up 17-11 eight minutes into the game.

Washington clawed back, using back-to-back jumpers from Kristin Anda to get within two before Lucy Montgomery hit a big three to knot the score at 19-19 with 9:18 still left to play in the first half. The two teams then played back-and-forth basketball with each taking slim leads. Wash. U took a one-point lead as both squads went into a three-minute scoring drought. Northwestern answered a 6-0 Bears run with consecutive downtown makes from Sir, but the Eagles went scoreless in the final two minutes of the game while Washington scored three points to close out the half with a 33-29 buffer in its favor.

Unfortunately for UNW, the Eagles' 47 percent first half shooting rate didn't carry over to the second half so well, especially from the outside. Northwestern did its best to stay in the game with scoring, keeping the Bears within reach at four points thanks to another Sir three-pointer at the 16:30 mark of the period. Sir's bucket would only be one of the Eagles' two makes from behind the arc the rest of the way out while Washington started to add more baskets on their end of the floor.

Wash U's lead was at 51-43 entering the game's final 10 minutes thanks to a Jacki Smith (Shoreview, Minn./Concordia Academy) bucket, but that was the last time the margin would be in single digits as the Bears pushed their mark to between 10 and 13 points. Washington's final makes in the final two minutes came with Northwestern's non-starters on the floor.

The Eagles finished with a 36 percent success rate in overall shooting, making just seven baskets in the second half. Meanwhile, the Bears traded places with UNW, turning a 37 percent first half mark into a 45 percent rate in the second to finish at 40.9 percent for the game.



All four of Sir's conversions were from downtown while fellow senior Jessica Fife (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) went 7-9 for a team-best 15 points to finish both players' career in an Eagles uniform. Fife added eight rebounds in the loss.

Washington (24-2) had both Anda and Melissa Gilkey finish with 15 points as the Bears advanced to Saturday's second round game against the winner of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Saint Mary's (Minn.).

Northwestern's season ends at 20-8 with the Eagles posting their best number of victories in 12 years and UNW's best performance in terms of wins and losses under Kahl, who finishes his fourth year at the team's helm.

For future information about Northwestern women's basketball, be sure to continue to visit unweagles.com.