ST. PAUL, Minn. – Playing shorthanded without leading scorer
Lydia Schmitter (Eagan, Minn./United Christian Academy) in the lineup once again, the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team gave conference favorite University of Minnesota Morris everything it could handle on Saturday afternoon inside the Ericksen Center. A handful of offensive outbursts that electrified the home crowd kept the game close for a while, but Morris was able to pull away for an 82-65 win to improve to 2-1 in the UMAC.
The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead before
Marin Blom (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) got UNW on the board with a layup. After UMM pushed the lead back to seven, the Eagles scored seven of the next nine points to knot things up at 11, punctuated by a
Karley Loven (Swanville, Minn./Swanville) mid-range jumper. Minnesota Morris was able to counter with a 5-0 run to close out the quarter, leading 16-11.
The run went from 5-0 to 10-0 in the opening minutes of the second quarter, stretching the margin to double digits for the first time. It reached 14 for a moment, but a pair of three-pointers from
Olivia Heikes (Braham, Minn./Braham Area) and an
Ella Frazier (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) layup got it back to a nine-point game. A layup from
Katelyn Lindberg (Clearwater, Minn./Monticello), who transferred to Northwestern from Morris this fall, plus a Loven three brought the Eagles within six and ignited the Ericksen Center crowd. But after a timeout, the Cougars were able to regroup and took a 40-27 lead into the half.
UNW came out hot in the third quarter, getting buckets from Blom, Lindberg and
Emma Korinek (New Brighton, Minn./Concordia Academy) on its first three possessions to whip the crowd into another frenzy and pull within seven. But UMM once again had the answer, scoring 10 of the next 12 to go up 15. Korinek continued to provide a spark, notching three-point plays in both fashions in the final 3:09, but Morris was able to narrowly extend its lead to 59-45 heading into the final stanza.
Aubrey Langrehr (Rockland, Wis./Bangor) drilled a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter, keeping Northwestern in the hunt. Unfortunately for
Aaron Kahl's squad, the Cougars scored nine of the next 11 points and took their largest lead of the afternoon (68-50) with 7:25 left. The closest the Eagles would get the rest of the way would be 16 points despite six more points from Korinek, another Heikes trey and success at the free throw line. In the end, the visitors held onto an 82-65 win, dropping UNW to 5-11 this season and 0-4 in the UMAC.
Korinek was the lone Eagle to score in double figures, finishing with 15 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. The rest of the scoring was pretty balanced, with three Eagles scoring nine points (Blom, Heikes and Loven), and Lindberg scoring eight. Blom also snagged nine boards and dished out four assists, while
Carli Elrod (Lindstrom, Minn./Spectrum) led the team with 10 rebounds against a Cougars' lineup which started four players 5'11" or above.
Northwestern will travel north to take on UW-Superior on Wednesday, January 21
st at 5:30 PM.
