ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Northwestern women's basketball team clinched a share of the UMAC Regular Season Championship in their season finale on Saturday. It was not an easy game as the Eagles battled the Martin Luther College Knights to the end, ultimately taking the game 62-56. With the win, the Eagles improved to a 18-5 record (13-1 UMAC), while extending their win streak to 12 games.
The Eagles opened up the game with an 8-0 run before the Knights fought back with a quick 7-0 run of their own. After Northwestern scored to extend their lead to four, Martin Luther made two consecutive shots to take their first lead of the game 12-11. UNW would hit a free throw to tie the game up as the quarter came to an end.
The second quarter was very déjà vu as the Eagles once again broke out on an 8-0 run, the first six coming off the back of
Allison Eide (Farmington, Minn./Christian Life Academy) who knocked down a three pointer and converted on an and-one. After back-to-back threes for the Knights, the lead was back down to two. The teams would exchange baskets to the point where the lead for UNW was only one with 03:35 left on the clock. However, Northwestern would take a 7-1 run into halftime, leading 32-25.
The Eagles shot 33 percent from the field in the first half while hitting 7-of-11 of their attempted free throws. UNW's defense forced eight turnovers along with four swatted balls. On the board game, Northwestern had five offensive rebounds, which resulted in six second chance points.
It was a slow third quarter as neither team could find a field goal until Martin Luther broke the curse with a three pointer to cut into the Northwestern lead. The lead for the Eagles would sit at a one possession score for most of the quarter before the Knights found their first lead of the half.
Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) drained a three to give the lead back before a last second jump shot for BLC gave them a one point lead, 46-45, as the teams entered the final quarter.
Right off the bat Martin Luther began building on their lead to where they were up by five with 06:28 left in the game.
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) had herself a fourth quarter and started to reel Northwestern back into the game as she sank a three and then converted her own and-one to put the Eagles back on top with a little more than four and a half minutes left. Both teams would exchange leads before UNW tied it with 02:40 left. Northwestern would not let them score again as Roberts made two highly contested shots before
Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley) turned off the lights on the Knights with two more free throws. The Eagles took down the Knights 62-56, earning them a share of the UMAC Regular Season Championship.
Overall, UNW shot 32.3 percent from the field, 25 percent from beyond the arc, and hit 72.7 percent of their free-throw attempts. They forced a total of 13 turnovers and capitalized with 13 points while they finished the game defensively with a staggering eight blocks and three steals.
Hagen led the team in scoring with 18 points, eight which came in the final quarter. Second in scoring was Roberts who scored 16 points while bringing in eight rebounds. Lund had 10 made free throws to help her to a total of 14 points along with six rebounds. Leading the team in boards was
Hailey Paup (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Concordia Academy) who finished the game with 10 rebounds.
The Eagles will now be heading to the postseason. Their quarter final matchup will be hosted in the Ericksen Center next week Tuesday, February 22. For all things UNW women's basketball, visit www.unweagles.com or follow them on social media @unwwbb.
