The Northwestern College women’s basketball team outscored Midland by 20 in the second half in earning a gritty 76-54 home win in a GPAC Quarterfinal played tonight at the Bultman Center.
The victory propels the No.3 seeded Raiders into Saturday’s semifinal against No.2 Concordia; Northwestern moves on with a 17-9 record while Midland’s season ends at 15-11.
Leading by just two (27-25) after a low scoring first half where both team’s defenses shined, Northwestern outscored the Warriors 49-29 over the final 20 minutes and pulled away in the fourth quarter. Back-to-back three-pointers by Sammy Blum triggered a 9-0 run to put the host Raiders in front by 10, 38-28. A lay-up from Alexis Toering on a run out after a missed jumper by Midland put the Northwestern lead at 12 moments later until Midland rallied to get within five late in the period (49-44). A Deyvyn Kemble three-pointer and lay-up by Maddie Jones at quarters end put the hosts back in front by 10, 54-44.
The fourth quarter belonged to the home team as Northwestern outscored Midland 22-10, holding the Warriors to just two field goals over the final 10 minutes. A basket by Molly Schany with 2:50 left gave the hosts their first 20-point lead (73-53).
Northwestern overcame a tough shooting first half (33%), going 50% over the final 20 minutes and 42% for the game. They converted on 6-of-15 three-point attempts, led by Blum with five three’s leading to a game-high 21 points. Molly Schany scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half and Alexis Toering chipped in season-high 10 points to go with seven rebounds.
The Raiders finished with a 48-43 edge on the boards after a large deficit at halftime; Taylor VanderVelde led the way with nine boards and also dished out four assists.
Midland shot 28% for the game and was led by Lexis Haase with 12 points.
Scoring was hard to come by in a first quarter that ended with a 9-7 Northwestern advantage; the teams played even (18-18) over the second quarter.
