MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team traveled to Minneapolis to take on the 12-0 undefeated Rams of North Central University on Tuesday night. The Eagles showed up to play as they took down the Rams 57-43, improving their record to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Neither team could find a bucket within the first two and a half minutes of the first quarter. Although the Rams would eventually find the first bucket, it was the Eagles who found themselves on a 7-0 run to give them a comfortable lead. UNW would not see this lead disappear from their sight as both teams battled back and forth until the end of the quarter with Northwestern leading 13-10.
 
Both teams picked up the pace in the second quarter as they started to find the hot hand. The Eagles found themselves up 20-14 with six minutes left before the Rams started to pull themselves back in. After some back and forth baskets, NCU found their first lead in the game since the opening bucket with two minutes left. However, UNW responded quickly to jump back ahead with Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) finding three jumpers to end the quarter, giving the Eagles a four point lead, 33-29, entering halftime.
 
The Northwestern defense was strong despite facing off against the best scoring team in the UMAC. They held the Rams to only 34.4 percent shooting from the field, including 16.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Eagles also forced seven turnovers in the half, resulting in five points off of turnovers. Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) was the hot hand for the Eagles as she scored 11 points in the first half.  
 
UNW had a much needed hot start coming out of the lockers as they went on a 10-4 run in the first four minutes of the second half to go up 43-33. There would not be much scoring in the final six minutes of the third quarter as the Rams outscored the Eagles 4-3, giving Northwestern a nine point lead entering the final quarter. Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley) knocked down two threes in the quarter to help build the lead.
 
It was a 9-0 run by the Eagles that sealed their victory in the final quarter as they took the game 57-43. While Northwestern's defense was spectacular, the Rams were not able to capitalize on a lot of the opportunities they made for themselves. In the end, UNW held NCU to 24.2 percent shooting from the field, 12 percent from the three-point line.
 
The Eagles continued to capitalize off of North Central's turnovers as they finished the game with 15 points off of turnovers. Speaking of scoring chances, another bright spot for Northwestern was their offensive rebounding, as they finished the game with 13 of them, which led to 11 second chance points.
 
Lund had a team season high five made three pointers in the game as she finished with 21 points while Hagen would finish the game with 11 points and four rebounds. Leading the team in rebounds was Hailey Paup (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Concordia Academy) who grabbed 11 rebounds alongside six points. Roberts and Allison Eide (Farmington, Minn./Christian Life Academy) also had strong games with eight and seven points a piece.
 
Next up for Northwestern is their first home game in over a month and a half. They will  be hosting the Yellowjackets of the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the Ericksen Center on Friday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m.