SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Twenty-four hours after a heartbreaking defeat in the Golden State, the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team was back at it in West Gymnasium. This time, the Eagles partook in a true road game with the University of California-Santa Cruz, the hosts of the event. In its final game of the New Year's Classic, UNW prevailed by a 61-58 margin despite a late scare from the Banana Slugs.
The game began at a slow pace as the first three minutes produced zero points between the two teams. Santa Cruz ultimately broke the lid off the basket, which was quickly followed by a trademark backdoor layup from
Taylor Schuck (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) off an assist from
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy). Landvik took matters into her own hands soon after, stopping and popping in the lane to make it 7-4, UCSC.
Livvy Grosz (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony) made a driving layup to pull within one, and
Rylie Hirschey (Pine River, Minn./Pine River Backus), fresh off a tremendous showing on Friday night, drilled a three-pointer to tie the game at nine. After two
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) free throws, the Eagles' defense forced a ten-second violation and the momentum was officially theirs. Hirschey buried her second three of the game off a kick-out from
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) to cap an 8-0 run and give Northwestern a 14-9 lead. At the end of the opening period, UNW held a 14-13 advantage.
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) opened the second quarter with a three-pointer to push Northwestern's lead back to four. Schuck and Grosz both hit threes to catapult UNW to a 10-0 run, which was concluded by
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) chasing down an offensive rebound and finishing the put-back to give the Eagles a 29-18 edge. At halftime, Northwestern led 31-20 after a couple of successful free throw attempts. It held the Slugs to just seven points in the quarter.
Riding the momentum of the dominant second quarter,
Aaron Kahl's team came out firing in the third. Grosz canned a three off an assist from Schuck on the first possession, then found Landvik cutting for a layup on the second. The following possession, Landvik made an impressive, reverse layup to give Northwestern its largest lead of the game at 38-22. Landvik continued her strong play moments later, swiping the ball from a Banana Slug and finding Hagen for a pull-up jumper. Later, Hagen hit a turnaround jumper off a bullet pass from Schuck to keep UNW in control at 44-29. Hirschey closed the quarter strong, making a pair of free throws on the penultimate possession and converting an and-one opportunity with under a minute left to make it 52-36 in favor of Northwestern after three.
As well as Northwestern was playing, the home team wasn't about to just hand the win to them. UC-Santa Cruz went on a tear in the fourth quarter, cutting UNW's lead to 56-48 before Hagen made a fade-away shot with 3:40 left. Needing a bucket to keep the Slugs at bay, Kahl dialed up a set that was beautifully executed by his unit to get Landvik open for an easy layup and put Northwestern up, 60-48. However, Santa Cruz wasn't deterred. The Banana Slugs responded with a 10-0 run to trim the lead to two. With ten seconds left, Schuck made the first of two free throws to extend the lead to three. The junior then stole the ball from Santa Cruz on the other end and dribbled the clock out to seal the victory.
Grosz led the way offensively with an efficient 13 points on 5-7 shooting. She also added five rebounds and three assists. Landvik was not far behind, finishing with 10 points, three boards, two assists and two steals. Hagen, who was named to the New Year's Classic All-Tournament Team, chipped in nine points and six boards. Hirschey finished with nine points as well. Sondrol ripped down six rebounds herself, while Schuck dished out three assists.
The win vaults Northwestern to an 8-5 record heading into 2024, as the Eagles close non-conference play at 7-4. They finished the California trip 1-1 in a pair of tight games and will open up conference play on Saturday, January 6
th back at home against North Central. Tip-off from the Ericksen Center is scheduled for 1:00 PM and you can catch all the action on the Eagle Sports Network.
