SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 14-ranked Northwestern College women’s basketball team (18-3, 10-3 GPAC) shake off a sluggish start to down (RV) Briar Cliff (11-8, 8-5 GPAC) 63-53, as the Raiders complete the season sweep of the Chargers behind a 23-point fourth quarter.
Early on in the contest the momentum was on the side of the Chargers before a Jada Cunningham (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D./Washington) three gave the Raiders their first lead of the evening at 5-4 midway through the opening quarter. A Maddie Jones (Jr., Twin Lakes, Iowa/South Central Calhoun) three would tie the contest at 10-10 to end the quarter. Northwestern dominated the offensive glass in the first quarter, tallying four in the first frame to Briar Cliff’s one.
The Chargers open the second quarter with a 5-0 run, but Zoe Heemstra (Jr., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) responds with five straight points of her own to knot the game at 15-15. A Heemstra steal leads to a fast break layup by Hali Anderson (Fr., Saint Ansgar, Iowa/Saint Ansgar) resulting in the Raiders taking the 19-18 lead with five minutes to go in the half. A spark by an Emilee Danner (Jr., Westside, Iowa/Ar-We-Va) old fashioned three-point play gave the Raiders their largest advantage of the game at 24-20. Briar Cliff would end the half on a 5-0 run to take a 25-24 lead into the locker room.
Molly Schany (So., Emmetsburg, Iowa/Emmetsburg) opened the second half with a three-point play opportunity, as both teams would trade buckets, eventually knotted up at 31-31. Heemstra would splash a three after a Charger offensive foul, as the Raiders would continue to battle the scrappy Briar Cliff squad. The Chargers would expand their lead, taking their largest of the contest, at six (42-36) with under three minutes to play in the third quarter. A pair of Raider free throws by Schany cut the Charger lead down to 42-40 to end the third.
After a BCU offensive foul, Danner would tie the game at 42-42 with a baseline jumper. The next possession Hannah Nerem (Jr., Edgerton, Minn./Southwest Minnesota Christian) fights through contact and completes the three-point play to give the Raiders a 45-42 lead, as the run opens up to 5-0. Momentum stayed with the Raiders as Danner gets the steal and goes coast-to-coast, forcing the Chargers to take a time out, with the Raiders leading 47-44 with seven minutes to play.
Down the stretch it was the Raiders who showed out. A Jones steal and coast-to-coast bucket plus the foul, prompted the Chargers to take a time out with the Raiders taking their largest lead of five at 53-48. Jones would extend that lead to six. The two teams would trade threes and another Jones steal and fast break score kept the momentum squarely in possession of the Raiders, taking an eight-point lead at 59-51. With momentum on their side, Northwestern locked up the 63-53 victory and bumps their win streak to five straight.
Jones led the way for the Raiders with 15 points on an efficient five of seven shooting, she was followed closely by Cunningham who had ten. Nerem provided a much needed spark to the Raiders offense, providing 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. A well balanced attack provided support to the Northwestern offense with Schany and Heemstra both providing eight points apiece, and Danner chipped in seven off the bench as well. The Raider defense was able to hold Briar Cliff to 36.5 percent shooting, including 23.1 percent from beyond the arc, and force 16 Charger turnovers.
Up Next: The Raiders are set to host No. 19-ranked Concordia (Neb.) in a top-20 rematch from December, inside the Bultman Center on Saturday, January 22 with tip-off slated for 2:00 p.m.
