SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team resumed its season Friday night after some time off for Christmas, albeit in unfamiliar territory. The Eagles packed up and traveled west to Santa Cruz, California for two New Years weekend games on the UC-Santa Cruz campus. Friday's tilt matched UNW up with UW-Platteville, who has been receiving votes in the D3Hoops Top-25 Rankings all season. In a back-and-forth affair that went down to the final buzzer, the Pioneers were able to escape with a 66-63 win.
The tug of war between the two Midwest powers began immediately, as
Taylor Schuck (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) converted a backdoor layup courtesy of a
Livvy Grosz (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony) assist to tie the game at two early on.
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) scored UNW's second basket of the game on a floater to make it 6-4 in favor of UW-Platteville. The Pioneers extended the lead to 12-4, but the Eagles climbed back within striking distance after an
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) steal and layup and a
Rylie Hirschey (Pine River, Minn./Pine River Backus) free throw. A Hirschey three-pointer trimmed the Platteville lead to four at 14-10, then
Andrea Pocernich (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell-Wright) sparked the Eagles for the remainder of the quarter. The sophomore hit a turnaround jumper with just over a minute left and a three at the buzzer to keep Northwestern in the thick of it at 19-15.
The Eagles stayed competitive in the second period, as
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) opened up the scoring with a layup to make it a two-point game. Trailing 25-19, Terry drilled four consecutive free throws to pull UNW back within two. Hirschey followed that up with a step-back three to give Northwestern its first lead of the night. The Pioneers responded with a 6-0 run, but Schuck knifed through the defense and converted a layup shortly before the half ended to make it 31-28 in favor of UW-Platteville at the half.
Simply put, the third quarter belonged to the Eagles. In the early goings, the two teams traded baskets, which included floaters by Landvik and Schuck. With the Pioneers up 39-33, UNW kicked it into high gear.
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown),
River Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) and Hirschey all made shots around the hoop to pull even at 39. Hagen, who sat out most of the first half due to foul trouble, went coast-to-coast for a layup to make it an 8-0 Northwestern run and give the Eagles their second lead of the game. Two Grosz free throws and a Terry layup gave UNW its first two-possession lead at 45-41. With 35 seconds left, Hirschey converted yet another backdoor cut—one of many on the night for Northwestern—and put an exclamation point on the dominant quarter with a buzzer-beating three to put the Eagles on top 50-45 heading into the final ten minutes of play after the 17-6 run.
Platteville refused to go down quietly, opening the quarter on a 12-1 run before Schuck found Sondrol for a layup to cut the UWP lead to four. Landers made a nice post move and finished with her left hand to make the lead two at 57-55, then a Hagen three again trimmed the lead to two at 60-58. Hirschey's fourth triple of the night cut Platteville's lead to 64-61 with 57 seconds remaining and gave Northwestern some life. Hagen scored down low with 8.9 seconds left to pull the Eagles within one at 64-63. Desperately needing to force a turnover,
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) did just that, swiping the inbound pass away from UW-Platteville. Unfortunately, the Eagles were not able to turn the steal into points and Platteville converted two free throws in the final seconds to seal the 66-63 win.
Hirschey's return to the Northwestern rotation was just what the doctor ordered, as the sharpshooter went 6-10 from the field and 4-8 from three en route to 17 points to lead the Eagles. Hagen chipped in 10 points and three rebounds, while Terry finished with eight points and two steals. Landers dominated the glass, ripping down eight boards to go along with her six points. Schuck was solid all-around as usual, contributing six points, three rebounds and three assists.
Northwestern will take the court again in Santa Cruz on Saturday at 5:30pm CT (3:30pm PT) against the hosts of the event, the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. The game will be UNW's final in California, as well as its final non-conference game of the regular season.
