Sioux City Iowa – Northwestern defeated Eastern Oregon in dominating fashion Friday night with a final score of 83-60. The Mountaineers came into the game with a winning streak that stretched back to November. Anna Kiel and Kassidy DeJong’s double-doubles led the way for the Red Raiders to advance to the quarterfinals in the Duer Bracket.
Eastern Oregon opened second round play for the Duer Bracket in the 2018 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship tournament. Eastern Oregon defeated Reinhardt (Ga.) by 31 points in the opening round, while Northwestern defeated Friends (Kan.) by just six points.
The first quarter had both teams with leading multiple times, as a back and forth lead swayed for the entire quarter. Payton Parrish’s nine points was the lead for either team, as Eastern Oregon led by just one point by the end of the first. Both team were shooting well, as Eastern Oregon shot 56 percent and Northwestern shot 60 percent from the field. Eastern Oregon held the advantage in 3-point shooting, going 5-7 in just the first.
Northwestern stole the second quarter by shooting 9-16 and commanding a nine point lead by outscoring the Mountaineers 21-11. Renee Maneman leads all scorers with 14. With Eastern Oregon’s leading scorer Maya Ah You-Dias on the bench in foul trouble for most of the first half, the Mountaineer offense was held to just 11 points in the second, as the Red Raiders led 44-35 going into the locker room.
Like the second, the third quarter was dominated by the Red Raiders. Northwestern outscored the Mountaineers 24-8 to increase their substantial lead to 25. An abysmal shooting percentage for Eastern Oregon of 24 percent allowed the Red Raiders to make half of all their shots in the third.
Although the Mountaineers fought back in the fourth, reducing the lead to 23, but the Red Raiders hung on to win 83-60.
The Red Raiders conquered the Mountaineers to snap their win streak at 25. Northwestern will move on to the quarterfinals, where they await St. Francis (Ill.). The game will be played at 6:00 P.M. Saturday night in the Tyson Events Center.
