WINONA LAKE, Ind.- The Northwestern women's basketball team traveled to Winona Lake, Indiana for the first round of the Division I NCCAA Tournament to take on the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City University. A strong second half for the Mighty Oaks was too much for the Eagles as they fell 79-67.
Hailey Paup (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Concordia Academy) got the scoring going as she sunk a free throw to put Northwestern up by one which was followed up by a
Megan Roberts (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) corner three. The strong defense for the Eagles did not allow the Mighty Oaks any points until three and half minutes into the game. After OCU responded to cut their deficit down to two points, UNW fired back with a small 6-2 run to extend their lead to six. An and-one would help Oakland City cut the lead but Northwestern would round out the quarter with a layup to take a lead of 14-9 at the end of the first.
It was a fast start for the Mighty Oaks as they scored five points in a row to tie the game at 14 all. The Eagles would respond with their own 5-0 run as they continued to hold the lead. After OCU knocked down a bucket, UNW went on a 6-0 run to hold a 25-16 lead forcing a timeout. Out of the timeout, a good defensive possession led to Roberts knocking down her second three of the game. She would continue to score, making the next two baskets for a total of five in a row for her and Northwestern. Meanwhile,
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) started to heat up in the quarter, closing the first half with the final two buckets to put the Eagles up 37-21 entering halftime.
UNW scored 23 points in the second quarter, 19 of those points came from the duo of Roberts, who had 11, and Hagen, who scored eight points respectively. As a team, the Eagles shot 51.6 percent overall while hitting 40 percent of their threes. Northwestern held Oakland City to only 20 percent shooting, part of that due to their four blocks as a team. Their great defense turned into spectacular offense as they scored 16 points off of turnovers, while their passing game was smooth with 11 assists.
It was a much different third quarter for the Mighty Oaks as they could not miss. They would go on to score 33 points in the quarter and the once 16 point lead for the Eagles was suddenly cut down to two points, 56-54, entering the final 10 minutes. It was back and forth between the two teams in the first five minutes of the quarter. However, Oakland City found a spark and capitalized on it. UNW could not get themselves back into the game as they fell to OCU 79-67
Leading the team in points was Roberts who finished the game with 28 points, setting a new single-game career-high for the senior. She also led the team in rebounds with seven, as well as blocks with three. Second in scoring was
Kelsea Lund (Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley) who dropped 11 points while leading the team with five assists.
Although they lost, they are still not done yet. The Northwestern women's basketball team will be fighting for the fifth place spot starting tomorrow, March 17, at 12:00 p.m. EST tomorrow (11:00 a.m. CST). For all things UNW women's basketball, visit www.unweagles.com or follow them on social media @unwwbb.
