ST. PAUL, Minn. – The stage was set for a showdown in the Ericksen Center on Friday night, as the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team, winner of two of its first three conference games, hosted UMAC-unbeaten Wisconsin-Superior. The game lived up to its billing, as UW-Superior erased a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Northwestern, 73-65, to remain alone atop the UMAC standings.
The visitors jumped out to a 5-0 lead before
Taylor Schuck (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) got UNW on the board with a layup. Five more UWS points were followed by a
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) three-pointer, assisted by Schuck. The Yellowjackets extended their lead to 12-5 before the Eagles went on a tear to end the quarter. Hagen hit
River Landers (Grand Meadow, Minn./Grand Meadow) in transition for a layup before
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) went on a solo, 5-0 run. Terry then stole the ball from a Yellowjacket and gave way to
Rylie Hirschey (Pine River, Minn./Pine River Backus) for a layup to give Northwestern its first lead at 14-12. Landers finished inside off another Hagen assist to give the Eagles a 16-12 lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the quarter. They finished the quarter on a 14-2 and 11-0 run.
The Yellowjackets struck first in the second quarter, but
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in to push UNW's lead to 18-15. Hagen scored four points in the quarter before Terry and Hirschey hit back-to-back threes to give Northwestern its largest lead it would have all night at 30-21. Terry continued her strong play with two free throws with 1:04 left and the Eagles took a 32-26 lead into the halftime break.
Hagen started the second half with a layup to extend UNW's lead to eight, but the rest of the quarter belonged to UW-Superior. The Jackets went on an 8-0 run to tie the game before
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) knocked down a pair of free throws. They followed that up with an 11-3 spurt that was ended by a Landvik layup to pull the Eagles within four at 45-41. UWS pushed the lead to seven just seconds later, but Terry and
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) made back-to-back layups to keep Northwestern close. A 7-2 Superior run to close the period made it 54-47 in favor of the road team after three. The Yellowjackets scored more points in the third quarter alone (28) than the entire first half (26) and outscored the Eagles 28-15 in the period.
Despite the disappointing penultimate quarter, the Eagles refused to roll over. Sondrol made a layup to trim the lead to five, then Terry knifed through the UWS defense for a layup to make it 54-51, Superior. The very next possession, Hirschey picked off a pass and heaved a pass to the other end of the court, where a streaking Terry caught it in stride and made the layup to pull within one. The momentum continued to stay with the Eagles, and Terry in particular, on the ensuing possession when the junior converted an and-one opportunity to give Northwestern the lead back at 56-54.
The Yellowjackets calmed the seas with a three-pointer to end the 9-0 Eagles run, but Schuck drove the lane and laid it in to tip the scales back in UNW's favor. Once again, UW-Superior had an answer, going on a 6-0 run and regaining a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Landvik and Sondrol made a combined three free throws and Falk buried a late three, but UW-Superior was money from the charity stripe down the stretch and forced some timely turnovers to secure the 73-65 win. The win put UWS over .500 at 8-7 and it improved to 4-0 in conference play. With the loss, Northwestern falls to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the UMAC.
Terry was the spark plug the Eagles needed on offense, shooting 6-9 from the field en route to a career-high 17 points in just 19 minutes. Hagen scored 14 (12 of which came in the first half) in addition to pulled down five rebounds and dishing out three assists. Sondrol finished with nine points and three blocks, while Landvik contributed seven points and three boards. Hirschey led the team in assists with four.
Northwestern was scheduled to play a home contest against Northland College on Saturday, but that game was postponed to January 24
th at 5:00 PM. The Men's game versus Northland is still on as scheduled for 4:45 PM. The UNW Women will next be in action next Friday at Crown College. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 in St. Bonifacius.
