ST. PAUL, Minn. – After an 0-6 start to the season, the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team is on a winning streak. After dominating Maranatha Baptist University to the tune of a 96-34 win last Friday, UNW welcomed NCCAA foe Emmaus University to the Ericksen Center on Saturday afternoon and rolled to an 83-60 win in an Eagles vs. Eagles showdown.
Carli Elrod (Lindstrom, Minn./Spectrum) was cooking early, scoring six of Northwestern's first eight points of the contest. An and-one from
Lydia Schmitter (Eagan, Minn./United Christian Academy) gave UNW an 11-3 advantage, but Emmaus was able to cut the lead to four with 3:18 left in the opening period. The hosts responded with a 10-2 run in which Elrod, Schmitter,
Ella Frazier (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) and
Emma Korinek (New Brighton, Minn./Concordia Academy) all made layups, and extended their lead to 28-14 by the time the clock hit zeros after Korinek beat the buzzer with a three-pointer.
Korinek stayed hot with a driving layup to open the second quarter, but EU scored 11 of the next 14 points to pull within eight, with a
Brenna Vogel (New Prague, Minn./South Metro) three being Northwestern's only bucket of the sequence. UNW answered with a 6-0 spurt, then a
Karley Loven (Swanville, Minn./Swanville) triple with 3:45 remaining pushed the lead back to 16. After the visitors cut it to 11 less than two minutes later, Frazier and Elrod calmed the seas with one bucket apiece, and
Olivia Heikes (Braham, Minn./Braham Area) drained a three in the final minute to give Northwestern its largest lead of the day at 51-34 entering halftime.
The UNW offense got off to a roaring start in the third quarter, opening on a 9-2 run including five points from Frazier. Northwestern continued to get whatever they wanted driving to the rim, as Korinek and Vogel scored inside in the final minutes, and Schmitter added another conventional three-point play, to extend the advantage to 69-43 entering the fourth quarter.
Nearly 90 scoreless seconds went by in the fourth period before Emmaus got on the board, but Schmitter answered right back with a three-pointer. The freshman ended up scoring UNW's first eight points of the quarter before Korinek and
Aubrey Langrehr (Rockland, Wis./Bangor) joined her to score the final four. Despite EU's Rachel Barrett scoring an efficient 30 points and collecting 23 rebounds, Northwestern was able to emerge with an 83-60 victory.
Schmitter put up career-highs in points (23) and rebounds (10) to notch her first-career double-double. Frazier went 8-9 from inside the arc on her way to 19 points and four steals, while Korinek scored 11 points in just 14 minutes as she battled foul trouble all game. Elrod was the fourth Eagle in double figures with 10 points (all in the first half), adding six boards and three steals. Vogel was tenacious on both ends, finishing with six rebounds, four steals and three assists, and
Marin Blom (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) tallied six boards and five assists. Lindberg chipped in five rebounds and four assists.
UNW will be back at home Tuesday to host Gustavus Adolphus College as the opening leg of a women's-men's doubleheader in the Ericksen Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM.
