ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team welcomed St. Scholastica to the Ericksen Center for Saturday afternoon conference action. The Eagles – who have found their stride this season – recorded a 69-46 win over the Saints, their sixth win in the last seven games.
It was Northwestern's inside game that propelled them to a strong start as 10 of their first 12 points came in the paint from
Rio Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) and
Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy).
At the end of the first quarter, the Eagles held a 17-14 lead and quickly advanced it to six after a three-pointer from
Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./La qui Parle Valley) to start the second. Lund leads the Eagles in three-point shooting with 34 on the year (and a 41% average).
With Landers leading the way scoring 12 points in the first 20 minutes of action, Northwestern held a 31-23 lead at the half after shooting 41% from the field.
It was Landers who got the Eagles off to a hot start in the second half as well, following a blocked shot by
Miranda Crenshaw (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and quick ball movement to set Landers up for a fast break layup, assisted by
Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./La qui Parle Valley).
The momentum continued to build for UNW, who orchestrated a 15-1 run in the third quarter to cushion the lead. Another scoring streak in the fourth quarter propelled by three-point shooting from Lund advanced the Eagles' lead to a game-high 32.
Landers led the Eagles offensively with a career-best 23 points and 16 rebounds.
Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./La qui Parle Valley) added 15 points for Northwestern after draining five of 10 shots from beyond the arc. Lund also dished out a team-best five assists.
Jordan Sauve (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) picked up four steals, while
Amy Berglund (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) tacked on two blocks and seven rebounds.
Northwestern improves to 7-7 on the year and holds a 4-1 mark in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. The Saints fall to 2-10 on the year, 2-4 in the UMAC. With the win, UNW ties up the all-time series record against Scholastica at 44 wins apiece.
The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday, January 9 when they travel to Superior to take on the Yellowjackets. UW-Superior was handed their first UMAC loss (to Bethany Lutheran) today. The Eagles are still in the running for a first place standing in the conference, sitting just shy at 4-1 overall, behind Superior and Bethany who hold a 5-1 mark.
