POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - On day two of the NCCAA DI National Tournament, the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team bounced back and completely flipped the script from yesterday's loss. UNW outscored Clinton 28-6 in the first quarter, shooting 53% from the field. The Eagles slowed in the second and fourth quarters, but never truly cooled off as they finished with 47% shooting from behind the arc and 50% shooting from the field in a 90-64 win.
Clinton opened the scoring on their first possession, and the Eagles answered with tough, laid-in shot off the backboard from Jasmine Sondrol (Grand Forks, N.D./Red River), followed by a jumper from Ella Falk (Jamestown, N.D./Jamestown). A steal and back to back buckets from Lexi Hagen (Jordan, Minn./Jordan) kick-started their aggressive opening quarter. Sondrol hit two free more throws before Clinton found their next score.
The Golden Bears won the 2nd quarter by one, but never lessened their deficit by less than 19 points. Leading 47-26 at the half, the Eagles came out of the break and scored 33 points in the third quarter. Lexi Garcia (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vanguard) knocked down two of her four threes to get UNW going as Hagen, Ryann Eddy (Northfield, Minn./Northfield), and Taylor Christenson (Maple Grove, Minn./Heritage Christian Academy) each converted their lone three-point attempts to close the quarter out on 6-9 shooting from the three-point line.
In a solid game, the Eagles recorded an assist on nearly half of their baskets and six players tallied double-digit scoring, demonstrating effective team play. Leading the team in scoring and rebounding, Hagen played an efficient role for Northwestern as she scored 15 points in only 19 minutes. The senior only missed twice as she went 6-8 from the field and 3-4 from deep. Hagen also corralled six rebounds. Sondrol also played a pivotal role in the Eagles' win as she scored 13 points and was perfect from the charity stripe, knocking down all six of her free throws. Grace Landvik (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy), Garcia, and Falk each added 12 points. Landvik led the team in shooting percentage of 80% on 4-5 overall shooting and 3-3 on free throws. She also led the team in assists with three. Garcia's 12 points came with range as she made four threes on five attempts. Sellers also added 10 points and two assists.
For the 2024-25 season finale, the Northwestern Eagles will compete for fifth place against the Highlanders from Houghton University at 5:00 PM on Friday, March 21st.
