ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball squad was back in action on Friday evening for their UMAC conference opener at North Central University. Your Eagles came into the matchup with a 5-3 record and fresh off a win vs Martin Luther last Saturday while North Central sat at 8-1.

Both teams each took a win last season, splitting the conference series 1-1. UNW finished with a conference record of 12-4, good for 3^rd in the UMAC last season. North Central finished 2 spots below the Eagles with an 8-8 conference record.

UNW kept it close in this one, but weren't able to finish the comeback as they fell to NCU, 66-70.

The Eagles kept it tight in the 1^st quarter, thanks to Brooklyn Dekam scoring 5 of their first 7 points. The quarter would end with a score of 17-18, NCU.

The 2^nd and 3^rd quarters were where the Eagles found themselves down big, getting outscored 22 to 38 and went into the 4^th quarter down 17.

UNW had to play catchup in the 4^th, but found themselves outscoring NCU, 27-14 in the quarter while bringing NCU's lead to within 1 point with 1:23 left in the game. The Rams were able to hit a 3 pointer and some free throws to ice the game and bring us a final of 66-70, NCU.

Brooklyn Dekam led the eagles in scoring, netting 16 points while also pitching in 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) nabbed 14 points and 7 rebounds while Courtney Schmidt (Spring Valley, Minn./Kingsland) came 1 point shy of tying her career high 14 points, by finishing with 13. Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./La qui Parle Valley) returned to the lineup and had 12 points.

UNW now sits at 5-4 on the year.

The Eagles will look to keep the losing streak to 1, when they play host to Hamline University tomorrow at 5:30 pm. Catch the game in person or online at unweagles.com.

For all things UNW women's basketball go to www.unweagles.com or follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @unwwbb.