ST. PAUL, Minn. – After the first meeting between the two teams ended in an instant classic, overtime game in New Ulm, there was much anticipation for Saturday's rematch between the University of Northwestern and Martin Luther College Women's Basketball teams in the Ericksen Center. Northwestern, however, decided it could do without the drama that round one brought. The Eagles looked as locked in as ever and never trailed on their way to an 88-64 win over the first-place Knights.
Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown) buried a three-pointer on the opening possession, and UNW was off and running. A Grace Lanfvik layup and two
Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River) free throws made it 6-0 before MLC finally got on the board. A pull-up jumper by Falk and a
Lexi Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vanguard) three pushed the lead to six at 11-5, then a 6-0 Northwestern spurt that featured a euro step layup by
Reese Sellers (Yuma, Ariz./Yuma Catholic) and a
Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) three extended the lead to 10. Garcia scored again on the following possession with a nifty, left-handed finish to make it 19-10, but Martin Luther scored the next five points to shrink the gap. A Falk three with under a minute left made it 22-15 after the first quarter.
The Knights got on the board first in the second period, but UNW answered with a 6-0 run thanks to a Sondrol pull-up jumper, two Christenson free throws and a Hagen jumper, to stretch its advantage to 28-17. Sellers made a layup at the five-minute mark to keep the lead in double figures, then a Sondrol trey just over a minute later made it 33-22. MLC got within six with 1:43 before the half, but Northwestern closed the half in dominant fashion. Sellers and Christenson made back-to-back threes, then Sellers picked off a Martin Luther pass with just a few seconds remaining and made a runner at the horn to take a 41-27 lead into the break and set the tone for the rest of the night.
The momentum didn't stop in the locker room, either. A Falk layup on a set play out of the half, a Sondrol pull-up jump shot, two free throws from Landvik and a Sondrol drive constructed an 8-0 run that left little doubt how this game would end up, as the Eagles now led 49-27. Sellers and Hagen then hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions to stretch the advantage to 26. The Knights were able to trim the deficit to 18 before Falk sunk a pair of free throws to make the score 60-40. An and-one by
Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) elicited a loud ovation from both her elementary school students in the crowd, as well as the rest of the Eagle faithful, then a Falk offensive rebound and subsequent put-back at the buzzer did the same, while making it 66-42 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Sellers, the UMAC leader in three-point percentage (both men and women), stayed hot with another triple to open the final period, which was followed on the next trip by a Landvik layup. A 7-2 run by Landvik (five points) and Sondrol (you do the math) made it 78-52, then Sondrol drained her second and final three of the night with just over five minutes left. As both teams began to cool off, Sondrol made a fade-away shot in the paint, then Christenson sunk her third three-pointer of the game with 1:56 on the clock, giving Northwestern its largest lead of the night, 86-57.
Brenna Vogel (New Prague, Minn./Homeschool) and
Caroline West (Lakeville, Minn./Homeschool) each made a free throw in the final minute as UNW closed out an 88-64 win to improve to 12-7 on the season and 6-2 in the UMAC. The Eagles are now tied with Martin Luther for second place in the conference, one game back of UW-Superior.
Sondrol paced Northwestern with 19 points (7-10 FG), four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Sellers came off the bench to pour in 15 points and dish out three assists, while Falk finished with 14 points and five boards. Christenson tallied 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while fellow senior Landvik logged her first-career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, in addition to three steals. As a team, UNW shot the lights out, going 30-56 from the field (53.6%) and 12-23 from three (52.2%).
The Eagles won't have to wait long to get their shot at climbing to the top spot in the conference, as a road trip to UW-Superior awaits them on Wednesday, February 5
th. Tip-off against the Yellowjackets is scheduled for 7:15 PM, following the conclusion of the men's game, where Northwestern will try to avenge a January home loss. Tune in on the UMAC Sports Network.
