CHICAGO, IL. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team concluded their 2022-2023 season on Friday night when they competed against #10 University of Chicago in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The Eagles fell to the Maroons 63-48. The Maroons will advance to the round of 32 on Saturday night while the Eagles' see their historic campaign come to an end. UNW finishes with a record of 19-9, 13-1 UMAC, having won the UMAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, and having advanced to the NCAA Division III National Tournament for the first time since 2014.
The Maroons came out firing on their home court and started the National Tournament with an impressive scoring run. Chicago scored the first 17 points of the game and UNW found themselves in a 17-0 deficit early on. However, after the first quarter which ended 24-5 in favor of the Maroons, the Eagles started playing their solid brand of basketball.
Over the next three quarters, UNW held the advantage in the game. The Eagles outscored the Maroons by four over the remainder of the contest, but it was not enough to erase the early deficit.
Part of the reason for the Eagles' success over the final three quarters was the one-two punch of sophomore wing players
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) and
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River). The pair each scored 11 points while Hagen grabbed 11 rebounds and Sondrol grabbed seven.
Megan McGeough (Greeley, Colo./Dayspring Christian Academy) finished the game with eight points and three rebounds. McGeough is the only senior on the Eagles' squad and ended her Eagle career on Friday night. McGeough has been named UMAC All-Conference multiple times in her career, including a First-Team selection this season, and is a 1,000 point scorer for the Eagles. Congratulations Megan on an outstanding Eagle career!
UNW will enter the 2023-2024 season as the reigning UMAC Regular Season and Tournament champions, and the future is looking bright as well as the team only loses one senior off of this year's squad.
