ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team kicked off the university's 2024 Hoops Hysteria festivities with a bang on Saturday in the Ericksen Center. Coming off an electrifying, 94-80 win over Bethany Lutheran on Friday night, the Eagles were forced to win a different style of game on Saturday. Thanks to some timely baskets and a terrific defensive effort, Northwestern claimed a 65-52 win in front of a packed crowd.
Contrary to Friday night's fast-paced shootout, Saturday's matinee started out much slower. That being said, the Eagles gobbled up most of the points scored in the opening frame. They scored the first seven points, four from
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) and a three-pointer from
Livvy Grosz (New Brighton, Minn./St. Anthony). The Knights finally got on the board, but
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) answered right back with a three of her own to make it 10-2.
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River), who had seven points in the quarter, connected from deep to make it 17-7 and a
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) left-handed floater with three seconds left gave Northwestern a 21-12 lead through 10 minutes.
Almost three minutes passed in the second quarter before the first points were scored, courtesy of a Sondrol runner off the glass to make Northwestern's lead double digits once again. The Eagles then scored the next six points, two from Hagen on a coast-to-coast layup and four from
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) to polish off a 10-0 run and put them in front, 29-12. With 1:31 left, MLC was finally able to score its first points of the quarter. UNW held a 29-19 advantage heading into the locker room after the teams combined for just 15 points in the second period.
The opening 4:30 of the third quarter belonged to UNW's starting guards. Landvik scored six points and Schuck four as the Eagles kept the Knights at an arm's length, holding a 39-29 lead. Falk scored Northwestern's next six points to cap off a 10-3 run and make it 45-32 in favor of the home team, then Terry and Sondrol made back-to-back layups to extend the lead to 15. With three quarters complete, UNW held onto a 49-35 lead.
Andrea Pocernich (Cromwell, Minn./Cromwell-Wright) put an end to any hopes Martin Luther had of coming back with a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter that pushed Northwestern's lead to its largest of the day at 52-35. The Knights did go on a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to 10, but Landvik and Schuck delivered once more, both making layups to put the Eagles ahead, 56-43. MLC again got within 10, but Hagen and Schuck made back-to-back buckets to make it 60-46. A 6-0 Knights run made things interesting, but Hagen delivered the dagger, burying a three-pointer with 1:22 left to give her team a 63-52 lead. Sondrol made a pair of free throws to close out the 65-52 victory.
It was a balanced scoring effort for
Aaron Kahl's squad on Saturday. Sondrol led the team in scoring for the second consecutive night, scoring 13 points, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking two shots. Landvik finished with 12 points and four boards. Both Sondrol and Landvik went 6-6 from the free throw line as well. Falk was the only other Eagle in double figures with 10 points, while Hagen came up just shy of a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. Grosz and Terry each tallied four rebounds, with Terry adding seven points.
The win improves UNW's record to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in the UMAC, and also gives the Eagles a two-game cushion for the number three seed in the upcoming UMAC Tournament. It also keeps them just one game behind Minnesota Morris for the two seed, who visits the Ericksen Center on Friday, February 16
th at 5:30 PM, the penultimate game of the regular season for each team. The stakes will be enormous, as whoever claims the two seed will host a UMAC semifinal game the following Wednesday. Stay tuned to unweagles.com for more coverage of Northwestern's playoff push.
