Orange City, Iowa — (RV) The Northwestern College women’s basketball team will host Midland for one of four quarterfinal games in the 2021 GPAC Postseason Tournament presented by Cypress Risk Management. Tip-off at the Bultman Center is scheduled for 6pm.
Northwestern is the No.3 seed in the eight-team tournament after finishing conference play with a 16-6 record, 16-9 overall. Midland is the No.6 seed, winning the tie-break over Jamestown and Dakota Wesleyan as all three teams finished with a 12-10 league record. The Warriors are 15-10 overall.
This Year, Northwestern and Midland split their two games this season, each winning on the road. The Raiders lost at home 80-74 as Midland outscored the hosts 23-10 in the final quarter. The Warriors had a bid edge at the free throw line, making 22-of-26 free throws compared to 4-of-7 by Northwestern. Makenna Sullivan netted a game-high 25 points and Lexie Haase added 22 to lead the Warriors. Molly Schany led Northwestern with 14 points and Jazy Prins scored 11 for Northwestern.
The Raiders avenged their early season loss with a 70-56 victory in Fremont, Neb. on Jan.30. Head Coach Chrs Yaw’s squad raced out to a 24-11 lead in the first quarter but Midland rallied, eventually making it a two-point game (48-46) late in the third. Northwestern began a 7-0 run and outscored Midland 19-10 in the final quarter to record its eighth straight win. Sullivan and Payton Wingert led Midland with 18 points each; Northwestern was led by Sammy Blum (17pts) and Molly Schany (16pts).
Midland dropped its final game of the regular season, an 81-56 loss to Hastings, and is 3-2 in its last five games. They have wins over Doane, Jamestown and Mount Marty and lost to Northwestern during this time. The Warriors finished tied with Dakota Wesleyan and Jamestown for sixth in the GPAC with a 12-10 record, 15-10 overall.
Gilbert is in his eighth season as the Warriors head coach, taking over the Midland program in 2013-14. Prior to Midland, Gilbert served as the recruiting coordinator at the University of Nebraska, a role he held for four seasons. Last year, Midland tied Briar Cliff for eighth place in the GPAC with an 8-14 record, 12-19 overall. They return three starters and 10 players from last year’s team; they were picked to finish ninth in the GPAC preseason poll.
Northwestern had its 11-game win streak snapped last time out, losing to #7 Morningside 73-64 in the final game of the regular season. The loss dropped the Raiders to third in the final GPAC standings with a 16-6 record, 16-9 overall.
