ST. PAUL, Minn. – You couldn't have drawn up a better start to Saturday's home-opening contest for the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team. The Eagles shot 50% in the first quarter and held Luther College to just 31.25%, opening up a nice lead over a team they narrowly defeated on the road last season. Unfortunately for Northwestern, Luther came alive toward the end of the second quarter, shooting 64.4% in the final three quarters to cruise to an 83-59 win over UNW.
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) got the Eagles on the board early in the first quarter with a tough, left-handed finish to even the score at two apiece. A nice
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) post move made it 4-2, then Northwestern really turned on the jets.
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) made a driving layup and stole the inbound pass, which led to a pair of Falk free throws to out UNW ahead, 8-2. Pull-up jumpers from
Ryann Eddy (Northfield, Minn./Northfield) and
Reese Sellers (Yuma, Ariz./Yuma Catholic) extended the lead to 12-3, then Falk added five more points after a brief Norse run to make it 14-8. Landvik picked up another steal toward the end of the quarter and made two free throws after being fouled to give Northwestern a 21-14 lead at the end of one.
After much of their first-quarter scoring came via the free throw line and inside the arc, the three-point line opened up for the Eagles in the second. Hagen drilled a three to go ahead 24-16, then Falk buried one of her own to give UNW its largest lead of the afternoon at 27-18. Hagen knocked another triple down to put her team up 30-21 with just over six minutes left, but Luther began to find its groove after that. A 7-0 run for the visitors cut the lead to two, then after a nifty step-through move by Falk, the Norse hit a three to pull within one. Landvik answered back with a layup, but Luther closed the half on a 4-0 run to take a 35-34 lead into the break, despite 14 points from Falk to that point.
The Norse continued to shoot the ball well to open the third quarter, hitting another three-pointer just eight seconds in.
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) answered back with a trey of her own, but Luther went on a 6-0 spurt to go up by six. Sondrol buried another three to stop the bleeding, followed by Falk and Hagen buckets to stay within four points. Another score by Falk down low got the Eagles within three points with 2:07 left, but Luther closed the period with seven straight to claim its first double-digit lead heading into the final 10 minutes, 61-51.
That lead quickly became 15 as the Norse continued to shoot the lights out. UNW briefly found its mojo and trimmed the deficit to 11 at 70-59, but was held scoreless in the final 6:33 of the game. Luther would go on to win 83-59 after holding the Eagles to 0-12 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter and shooting 72.73% in the period itself.
Falk was tremendous for Northwestern, shooting 58.3% en route to an 18-point, seven-rebound performance. Hagen added 12 points and
Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) nine, in addition to three assists. Sondrol scored eight points and snagged four boards, while Landvik dished out six assists and collected four boards of her own. Eddy finished with five rebounds. UNW did hold the edge in turnovers (11-18) and points off turnovers (17-9).
The Eagles will be back in action Wednesday night when they travel to defending-Division II National Champion Minnesota State, Mankato for an exhibition game. Tip-off at the Taylor Center is scheduled for 6:00 PM.
