ST. PAUL, Minn. – Through two games in the 2024-25 season, the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team seems to be a magnet to fourth-quarter drama. After a come-from-behind win at Buena Vista University to open the season on Saturday, the Eagles were on the other side of the coin Wednesday night at Hamline University. After leading for most of the second half, Hamline was able to out-score Northwestern 18-8 in the fourth quarter to improve to 2-1 and hand UNW (1-1) its first loss of the season, 59-54.
Northwestern's seniors provided the early offense, as
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) and
Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) combined for the team's first eight points to give them an 8-5 edge. The Pipers were able to score seven straight, but another senior,
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy), and Sondrol scored the final four points to even the score at 12 after one quarter of play.
Sondrol, who scored 17 points in the opener at Buena Vista, stayed hot as the second period began. The forward scored UNW's first five points to tie the game at 17 and give her 11 for the night. Hamline regained the lead with a three-pointer, but
Ryann Eddy (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) knocked down a triple of her own after a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought by both teams, to tie it at 20-apiece.
Lexi Hagen's (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) first five points of the game gave the Eagles a 25-23 advantage, then after another Landvik layup, Hagen finished a layup of her own to close out the first half and put Northwestern ahead, 29-26.
Much like the first two quarters, Sondrol scored UNW's first points to open the third, but they would wind up being her final points of the evening. Two free throws apiece from Landvik and
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown), plus a Falk turnaround bank shot, gave Northwestern its largest lead of the game at 37-28. Less than a minute later, Christenson penetrated and found
Reese Sellers (Yuma, Ariz./Yuma Catholic) on a picture-perfect back cut to get the lead back to nine. The Pipers were able to trim the deficit to three, but Christenson drained a three on a kick-out from Landvik to provide some breathing room. Falk scored the final bucket of the period with 43 seconds left, giving the Eagles a 46-41 lead entering the final 10 minutes.
That is where things began to go south for UNW. Hamline scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, putting the Eagles on their heels. The finally were able to score, 4:40 into the quarter, when Eddy made a jump shot to pull within three. A Falk three-pointer tied things up at 51 with 3:37 remaining, but the Pipers snatched the lead right back. Northwestern was able to stay within a possession thanks to free throws by Landvik and Christenson, but Hamline scored four points in the final minute and held the Eagles scoreless in that timeframe to claim a 59-54 win.
Sondrol led Northwestern in scoring with 13 points (11 in the first half), adding five rebounds and three assists. Christenson and Falk each scored nine, with the latter adding seven rebounds and two assists. Hagen scored seven and pulled down a game-high eight boards, while Landvik logged seven points and four assists. Neither team shot particularly well, but the Eagles did make 10 of their 13 free throws.
UNW will make its home debut Saturday at 1:00 PM against Luther College. If you can't make it in person, be sure to tune in on the Eagle Sports Network or the UMAC Sports Network app.
