ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's basketball team once again battled the Cougars of Minnesota Morris, this time in the Ericksen Center on Friday night. This was a more decisive victory for the Eagles as they took the game 64-47, improving their record to 13-5 (8-1 UMAC) and extending their winning streak to seven games. 
 
In the first quarter, Morris won the tip and would find the very first bucket of the game. Northwestern responded by shooting 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in their next three shots, two of the connections coming from Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy). After some free throws for UNW, the scoring would halt for a little bit before the Eagles once again found the back of the net to go up 13-2 with three minutes left. Morris outscored Northwestern 4-3 in the final minutes of the quarter to give UNW a 16-6 lead at the end of the first.
 
It took a while before either team could find a basket in the second quarter. Morris once again found the first basket of the quarter before Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) found herself a three pointer to match it. The final five minutes of the quarter quickly became competitive as both teams started to exchange points. A late three pointer for the Cougars would cut the lead down to eight points as the Eagles entered halftime leading 29-21
 
After an amazing three point display from Morris on Tuesday, Northwestern wanted to make sure they would not find that same fire power this time around. The Eagles held the Cougars to 31 percent shooting from the field while holding their three point percentage to 27.3 percent. As for UNW, they won the rebound battle 25-16 in the first half, 10 of those rebounds were offensive rebounds, resulting in eight second chance points.
 
The Cougars kept the game close in the first three and a half minutes of the third quarter. After a couple of Taylor Schuck (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) free throws to go up six, the Eagle's went on an 8-0 run to take a 41-27 lead with less than five minutes to go. Both teams would exchange runs with Northwestern finding their biggest lead of 18 points before Morris would finish the third with the last four points of the quarter as UNW lead 51-37.
 
The closest the Cougars would get in the final quarter would be nine points as the Eagles closed the game out on an 8-0 run to take the game 64-47.
 
Overall, UNW shot 38.9 percent from the field while hitting 80 percent of their free throws. Their defense was exceptional as they held the hot shooting of Morris to 33.3 percent overall while holding their three-point shooting to 19 percent. Continuing their domination on the boards, the Eagle outrebounded the Cougars 41-32
 
Roberts led the team in scoring as she finished with 19 points and four rebounds. Tied for second most points was Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley) and Hailey Paup (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Concordia Academy) as they both finished with nine points while Paup had a team high 11 rebounds. Leading the team in passing was Schuck who found four baskets for her teammates while stealing the ball a team leading three times 
 
The Eagles are right back at it tomorrow, this time against the Storm of Crown College in the Ericksen Center. The game will be at 5:30 p.m. and it is going to be Hoops Hysteria, an event hosted by Northwestern. For all things UNW women's basketball, visit www.unweagles.com or follow them on social media @unwwbb.