ASHLAND, Wis. – The University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team made the trek to Ashland, Wisconsin on Wednesday to take on conference foe, Northland College. Northwestern led the 0-14 LumberJills by only nine points through one quarter, but put the clamps on their opponents the rest of the way, allowing just 14 points the rest of the game en route to a 104-30 victory to improve to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in the UMAC.
UNW's first six field goals, courtesy of all five starters (
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River),
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) twice,
Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy),
Reese Sellers (Yuma, Ariz./Yuma Catholic) and
Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan)), came inside the paint as the Eagles raced out to a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes of action. The Jills got on the board with a layup moments later, but a Hagen three-pointer extended the lead to 15-2. Northland went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to six before Christenson drove in for a layup. The teams traded baskets for a couple possessions each, resulting in threes from Hagen and Sellers and a 23-14 Northwestern lead.
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) scored UNW's only bench points of the period with a spinning layup at the buzzer to give the Eagles a 25-16 edge through 10 minutes.
Falk cut to the hoop to score the opening points of the second quarter, which would almost literally turn out to be all Northwestern, as UNW would only allow two points in the quarter. On the following possession, Sondrol corralled an offensive rebound for a put-back, which was quickly succeeded by a left-handed layup from
Lexi Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vanguard) to extend the Eagles' lead to 15. Northwestern would ultimately score on five straight trips when two Falk free throws and a Garcia three made it 36-16 in favor of the visitors.
After taking a possession off from scoring, UNW went on another streak, this time of four consecutive trips resulting in points. Christenson made a layup, Falk spun into a make in the paint, then Hagen and Christenson hit back-to-back threes to cap off a 23-0 run dating back to Terry's first-quarter buzzer beater and give the Eagles a 46-16 advantage. The LumberJills finally scored their only points of the period with 3:27 left, which was immediately answered by back-to-back threes by Christenson and Sellers. A driving layup by Garcia in the final seconds gave her team a 55-18 lead at halftime after out-scoring the Jills 30-2 in the quarter.
Northwestern's dominance bled over into the third quarter as well, which was the final one in which UNW's starters played. The Eagles scored on their first six possessions of the period, which included eight points from Sellers, three from Christenson and two from Falk. Sondrol buried a trey with 4:52 on the clock to make it 71-18, then the
Brenna Vogel (New Prague, Minn./Homeschool) takeover began. The freshman guard checked in, cold off the bench, and scored 10 straight points to put an exclamation point on a 35-0 charge for Northwestern that began in the second quarter. Northland finally found the bottom of the net with 1:27 left in the period and added another bucket in the closing seconds, but the 26-4 quarter gave UNW an 81-22 lead entering the fourth and final frame.
Vogel's hot hand continued into the fourth as she scored the period's first points with a couple of free throws.
Makenzie Anderstrom (Hudson, Wis./New Life Academy) followed suit with two foul shots of her own, then a conventional three-point play by Garcia extended the lead to 88-22. Northland began to find its way on offense once again, but the Eagles' freshmen continued to put up points as well, as two more Vogel free throws and three more from Anderstrom put UNW in front, 93-29. A Garcia three and a Vogel layup but Northwestern on the brink of the century mark with two minutes remaining, which was achieved by
Reese Schmidt (Watertown, S.D./Florence), who calmly sunk a pair of foul shots. An Anderstrom jump shot and two more Schmidt free throws rounded out the scoring and put the final tally at 104-30.
The scoring effort was as balanced as they come, as six Eagles reached double figures. Sellers, making her first career start, led the way with 17 points on 6-7 shooting (4-5 from three), adding four steals and three assists. Vogel came off the bench to contribute 16 points, five rebounds and three steals (all career-highs), while Christenson tallied 15 points and three assists. Garcia set career highs in points (13) and rebounds (9), and Falk chipped in with 12 points and five boards. Hagen was the final double-figure scorer, putting up 11 points in addition to eight rebounds. Sondrol finished with seven rebounds and four assists, and Anderstrom pulled down a career-high six rebounds. Every Eagle but one that suited up scored in the game, contributing to UNW's 53.8% shooting performance (45.2% from three). Northwestern also made 20 of its 25 free throws, good for 80%. The Eagles also out-rebounded the LumberJills, 56-23.
The win puts the Eagles in sole possession of third place in the UMAC as of Wednesday night, just one game behind Martin Luther and UW-Superior, who are responsible for both of UNW's conference losses. Northwestern will get a crack at MLC Saturday at 4:45 PM in the Ericksen Center as part of the program's Alumni Day festivities. Those who can't make it to the game in-person can tune in to the Eagle Sports Network, an affiliate of the UMAC Sports Network.
