MARION, Ind. – The Northwestern College women’s basketball team (24-9, 15-7 GPAC) fell to the Eagles of Midway University (26-7, 15-2 RSC) 80-75 in the Opening Round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship, presented by Ballogy.
The Raiders were first to strike with a made layup from Jada Cunningham. A small run by the Eagles would see them take an 8-4 lead with seven to go in the first quarter. The teams would continue to trade baskets in the opening frame and the Eagles would maintain around a four-point lead. A layup at the end of the quarter gave the Eagles a 22-17 lead at the end of one.
The Raiders’ defense would put the clamps down and hold the Eagles to 25% from the floor in the second quarter. Midway would stretch their lead to eight with over eight minutes to play in the half. A 7-2 run by the Raiders would tie up the game at 30 with 5:30 to go, back-to-back buckets from Emilee Danner and Hannah Nerem would stretch the lead to four, providing a much needed spark in the contest. A fast break layup with 2:38 left in the half by Taylor VanderVelde would give the Raiders an eight-point lead. The teams would trade buckets and Northwestern would take a six-point lead into the halftime break.
Out of the break, the Raiders would have their biggest lead of the game at nine (47-41) after a made three by Devyn Kemble. A 10-2 run by Midway would trim the lead back down to one point (49-48) with 5:50 to go in the third. The Eagles would retake the lead at the 4:25 mark on a made layup by their leading scorer, Dezeree White. Molly Schany would get a bucket to go trimming the deficit to one, Maddie Jones would score and get fouled on the following possession and make one free throw to tie the game at 58. A Cunningham layup at the buzzer would give Northwestern a 60-58 lead going into the fourth.
On the opening possession of the fourth Kemble was fouled on a three-point attempt, after making all three foul shots the Raider lead sat at five (63-58). Midway would respond with seven straight points to take the lead. VanderVelde would answer with a big three of her own to retake the lead, 66-65. With four minutes to go a made layup by Midway tied the game at 71. Schany would knock down a free throw to give the Raiders the lead again, but Midway would answer with a made three off of an offensive rebound to take the lead (72-74) with 56 seconds to play. A Raider turnover would force Northwestern to foul. Midway would make four straight free throws giving them a 78-72 lead with 10 seconds left. A made three by Cunningham would give the Raiders one last chance but two more made free throws by the Eagles would seal the win.
Cunningham led the Raiders with 17 points. Danner provided 16 points and five rebounds, Kemble was the final Raider in double digits with 11, including two made 3-pointers. Jones led Northwestern with six assists and tallied an impressive seven steals. VanderVelde paced the Raiders on the boards with eight.
Northwestern ends the season with a 24-9 record on the season, including win streaks of ten and six throughout the season, under first year head coach Kristin Rotert. The Raiders tallied a 15-7 mark in Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) play, while punching a ticket to the national tournament for the fifth time in six seasons.
