ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team didn't get off to the start it wanted to on Saturday at Crown College, especially coming off a tough loss Wednesday night, but the Eagles were able to steady the ship and take care of business when they needed to. A strong closing quarter allowed Northwestern to pull away from the Polars and earn a 65-50 win to improve to 4-2 in the UMAC and 10-7 overall.
Crown opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) matched it with one of her own on the ensuing possession. The Polars went on a 6-0 run following Sondrol's three before
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) drilled one of her own. The hosts once again recovered nicely, opening up a 13-6 lead, but
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) knocked down a jump shot with 22 seconds left in the quarter to make it 13-8 through 10 minutes.
Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) buried a three to kick off the scoring in the second quarter and
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) converted a layup on the following trip, but as was the case for most of the first half, Crown had an answer every time UNW scored. Falk wound up scoring five Eagle points in a row, but Northwestern still found itself down 19-16. The final seven minutes of the half flipped the momentum to the Eagles' favor, as they went on a 12-0 run to take a 26-19 advantage. The run, which was started by Falk's final aforementioned bucket, included two Christenson threes and two Sondrol jumpers. The Polars scored four unanswered to trim the deficit to three, but triples from
Reese Sellers (Yuma, Ariz./Yuma Catholic) and Hagen put Northwestern back in front by seven. A Crown jumper in the final seconds made it 30-25 in favor of the visitors at halftime.
The Polars were able to pill within three early in the third quarter, but jumpers by Falk and Hagen pushed the lead back to five. Another Falk jumper and a Hagen three-pointer made it 39-31 in favor of UNW, but Crown was able to get it back to four with 2:32 left in the period. Christenson splashed another three on the other end before the Polars got the final bucket of the quarter with 1:42 on the clock, making the score 42-37 entering the final 10 minutes of play.
The momentum briefly remained with the home team as a layup cut Northwestern's lead to three, but layups by Terry and
Lexi Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vanguard), plus another Sellers trey, gave the Eagles a 10-point cushion at 49-39. Christenson drilled another three to make the lead 11, then after a Crown basket, Sondrol and Falk combined for six straight to give UNW its largest lead of the night at 58-43. A
Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) layup with just under four minutes left stretched the lead to 16, but the Polars knocked down consecutive threes to pull within 10 with 2:16 remaining. Falk immediately buried a triple of her own to put any chances of a comeback to bed, and a pair of Christenson free throws in the final minute closed out a 65-50 win for the Eagles.
Christenson, who has been on an offensive heater as of late, led Northwestern with 17 points and five rebounds. Falk dropped 16 points and grabbed five rebounds herself, while Hagen finished with 11 points, nine boards and two steals. Sondrol contributed in a number of areas with 12 rebounds, seven points, five assists and three blocks. Terry and Landvik each logged two steals and dished out four and three assists, respectively.
The Eagles will be back on the road Wednesday, January 29
th when they travel to Northland College. Tip-off will follow the conclusion of the men's game and is scheduled for 7:15 PM. You can catch all the action on the UMAC Sports Network.
