DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team traveled up to St. Scholastica Saturday afternoon to take on the Saints. Last time the teams met, Scholastica had the upper hand defeating the Eagles 80-67. This time was much different as UNW came ready to play, outscoring the Saints by almost double each quarter to come up victorious scoring 79 to the Saints 62.

Northwestern moves to 16-9 overall and 12-4 in the UMAC while St. Scholastica falls to 9-16 overall and 7-9 in the UMAC. With this win, Scholastica is out of the playoffs.

The Eagles brought a surge of energy to start the game as they would outscore the Saints 21-9 in the first quarter. Northwester would lead the entire game as Courtney Schmidt (Spring Valley, Minn./Kingsland) started the scoring with a layup and free throw. Rio Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) added to the run with another bucket before Scholastica would score their first points.

UNW had a nine point run in the first to finish the quarter up by 12.

The Saints would pick up pace and score a few to come within four of the Eagles before a Rio Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) jumper for two. Northwestern continued to power through and stay ahead of Scholastica to go into halftime, 31-29.

It was all UNW second half as they would stretch the lead to 10 with six minutes left in the third, 41-31. They would continue their lead with multiple layups and converting on important free throws. Time ran down in the third with the Eagles ahead of the Saints, 55-45.

UNW continued their tough defense and capitalizing on the offensive end. The Eagles' largest lead came in the fourth by as many as 18 as Northwestern pulled away from the Saints to finish 79-62.

Rio Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) carried Northwestern scoring a career high and double-double with 31 points and 18 rebounds, while Brooklyn DeKam (Edgerton, Minn./Southwest MN Christian) added 20 points and Courtney Schmidt (Spring Valley, Minn./Kingsland) had 14.

UNW nearly doubled the Saints score in each of the four quarters, outrageously outscoring their opponent. Northwestern shot an impressive 49.2% from the floor.

The Eagles scored 54 of their points in the paint and had 11 steals from the Saints.

Northwestern will travel back to Wisconsin-Superior on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for one of the two UMAC semi-final games. The winner will compete on Saturday in the Championship game and a chance to get a bid into the NCAA Tournament.

For all things women's basketball check out www.unweagles.com or follow them on Instagram or Twitter at @unwwbb.