SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team took the court at Kaiser Permanente Arena – home of the Santa Cruz Warriors (NBA G League) on Friday evening. The Eagles took on Whitman College (Walla Walla, Wash.) in the teams' first ever meeting. In a back-and-forth battle against the Blues, the Eagles fell in a tight 73-63 final score after Whitman put together a 9-0 run late in the fourth.
 
The Eagles fall to 4-7 on the year as the Blues improve to 8-3. Whitman finished the 2017-18 season with a 22-5 overall record and were NCAA Tournament participants.
 
Tonight's battle featured seven tied scores and eight lead changes. The Eagles got off to a strong start, putting 21 points on the board in the first quarter. The score was all tied up at the half (33-33) and Northwestern led for the majority of the third quarter.
 
Miranda Crenshaw (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) led the Eagles with 14 points and seven rebounds. Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./La qui Parle Valley) and Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) each added nine points, while Berglund tacked on four steals.
 
Lund dished out five assists in the contest and Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) pulled down seven rebounds.
 
The Eagles shot 52% from the field in the first half, but dropped their efficiency to 31% in the final two quarters. Whitman led the battle of the boards, 51-37 and scored 21 second chance points.
 
The Eagles will return to play in Santa Cruz tomorrow as they take on tournament host, UC Santa Cruz. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. (Pacific Time) and can be followed online at the following links.
 
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