MORRIS, Minn. – A late push by the University of Northwestern Women's Basketball team wasn't enough to make up for a big first-half hole, as the Eagles fell 81-69 on the road at the University of Minnesota Morris on Saturday. UNW out-scored its counterpart 43-33 in the second half, but a 22-point halftime deficit thanks to a 31-13 second-quarter margin made things difficult for the visitors to come back.
Emma Korinek (New Brighton, Minn./Concordia Academy), fresh off a career-best 16 points Wednesday night against UW-Superior, started the game with a three-pointer and scored Northwestern's first five points.
Olivia Heikes (Braham, Minn./Braham Area) hit a three to keep the Eagles within one at 13-12, but Morris was able to make it 17-13 by the end of the period. UNW stayed within arm's distance as former Cougar
Katelyn Lindberg (Clearwater, Minn./Monticello) scored five points on consecutive possessions, but a 14-0 run by UMM juiced its lead up to 20 with under two minutes left. Aubrey Lengrehr scored inside late, but Minnesota Morris held a 48-26 advantage at halftime after the big second quarter.
The rest of the game showed what we've come to expect from
Aaron Kahl's group: second half fight. Northwestern scored the first five points on buckets from
Carli Elrod (Lindstrom, Minn./Spectrum) and
Ella Frazier (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi), then went on a 10-0 run which included back-to-back threes from
Marin Blom (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) and Frazier, then two Elrod layups. The 12-point deficit was the closest the Eagles would get for the remainder of the quarter; however, despite treys from Korinek and
Brenna Vogel (New Prague, Minn./South Metro) before the clock expired. UNW still trailed 65-49 entering the final period.
The deficit reached 19 after a three-pointer from Morris's Grace Perry, who shot 6-7 from deep for 24 points on the afternoon, but Korinek and Elrod continued their strong play down the stretch. Korinek scored five-straight Northwestern points, ignited by an and-one, before giving way to Elrod, who scored the next eight. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they couldn't string together enough stops to get back within single digits and lost 81-69. The Cougars shooting splits of 50/41.2/100 were ultimately too much to overcome.
Elrod and Korinek each set new career-highs with 17 points apiece, with the former adding two blocks and two steals, and the latter 10 rebounds and two assists to record her first-career double-double. Lindberg finished with 17 points, three assists and two steals, while Blom chipped in eight points, seven assists and six boards. Frazier also scored eight points, adding two assists.
Northwestern will host first-place Bethany Lutheran on Wednesday, February 11
th at 5:30 PM.
