MORRIS, Minn. – With both teams coming off of double digit wins Friday night, Saturday's showdown between the University of Minnesota Morris and University of Northwestern Women's Basketball teams was due to be an important one for positioning in the UMAC standings. Thanks to 15 steals and a 14-0, fourth quarter run, Minnesota Morris was able to emerge victorious by a 61-52 score.
Northwestern dug itself in a 7-0 hole before finally getting on the board with an 8-0 run, beginning with a
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) three-pointer.
Rylie Hirschey (Pine River, Minn./Pine River Backus) made a three of her own on the next possession, and
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) was rewarded for her offensive rebound with an eventual layup, assisted by
Livvy Grosz (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony). The Eagles used another run toward the end of the quarter to regain the lead after Morris took it back, started by an
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) floater as the shot clock expired. Immediately following Terry's bucket,
Taylor Schuck (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) stole the ball and laid it in.
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown), coming off a career-high 16 points on Friday night, buried a three to make it 15-11 in favor of UNW. At the end of the quarter, Northwestern led, 15-13.
The Eagles started slow in the second quarter as well as the Cougars rattled off another 7-0 run, but
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) stepped up and hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two. The next possession, Falk drilled another three to trim Morris's lead to one. UNW stayed hot from three as
Lexi Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vanguard) connected from deep to put the Eagles back in front, 24-23, and Northwestern took a 26-25 lead into the half.
Schuck scored UNW's first point of the second half on a free throw, and a Sondrol layup soon after made it 30-29 Morris. Hagen drilled a three-pointer to give the Eagles a brief lead at 32-30, then Falk buried another one to make it 35-34, Northwestern. The two UMAC heavyweights continued to trade blows as Falk knocked down a pair of free throws to give UNW a 37-36 lead. Hagen hit another triple to put the Eagles up 40-38 with 1:40 left in the quarter, but the Cougars scored the final four points of the period to steal it back.
The final stanza appeared to be headed the same, back-and-forth way, as Falk tipped the momentum back in Northwestern's favor with an and-one after collecting an offensive rebound. However, the Cougars grabbed the momentum back and did not relent, ripping off a 14-0 run to take the lead for good. Schuck ended the run with an and-one of her own with 4:27 left to cut the lead to 10, but Morris answered. Hagen and Falk both made their fourth threes of the game down the stretch, but the Cougars came away with a 61-52 win to improve to 9-8 and 6-1 in the conference. Northwestern fell to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the UMAC.
If you thought
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) put on a show Friday night, the freshman made sure the encore was even better, putting up 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds, four of which were on the offensive end. Hagen was spectacular as well, knocking down four three-pointers en route to 12 points and seven boards. Sondrol and Terry finished with six and five rebounds, respectively, while Hirschey tallied six assists and three steals. Grosz added three assists of her own. The Eagles made 11 threes compared to Morris's two, but the Cougars made their living in the paint, out-scoring UNW 38-12 inside. Northwestern was also hampered by committing 25 turnovers, but did force 17 on Morris as well.
Northwestern will be back at the Ericksen Center Wednesday night to take on Northland College. The game was originally scheduled for January 13th but was postponed. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
