Molly Schany poured in a career-high 22 points in leading Northwestern to its third straight win, downing Dakota Wesleyan 75-69 in a GPAC match-up played tonight in Mitchell, S.D.
Northwestern is now 3-3 in the GPAC, 3-6 overall; Dakota Wesleyan slips to 1-2 in conference play, 3-2 overall.
Schany continued her stellar freshman season with a career-best 22 points, making 9-of-13 field goal attempts, to go with three rebounds and two steals. Jada Cunningham scored a season-high 12 points, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, and dished out three assists. Devyn Kemble gave Head Coach Chris Yaw’s squad three players in double figures with 11, making three three-pointers.
Down by four (69-65), Northwestern outscored Dakota Wesleyan 10-0 over the final three minutes to get the win. Taylor VanderVelde began the rally with a jumper inside the paint and two free throws by Cunningham knotted the game at 69 with 2:08 left. Following a Tigers miss, Sammy Blum was fouled and drained two free throws to put her team up two, 71-69. Another stop on the defensive end gave possession back to Northwestern and Yaw’s squad went to Schany down low, who delivered another basket for a four-point lead. Two more free throws from Blum were the final points with six seconds left.
Northwestern went 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch and limited to DWU to 0/5 shooting and one turnover over the final three minutes.
The Raiders shot 45% for the game, 26% from beyond the arc, and used a significant edge at the free throw line, converting 20-of-25 compared to 5-for-8 by DWU. Northwestern pulled down 28 boards spread among all 11 players, led by Blum and Alexis Toering with five.
Northwestern held a one-point lead (17-16) by the end of the first quarter and a 6-0 run, triggered by Schany (4pts) and Maddie Jones (2pts), extended the lead out to eight (35-27) late in the second period. DWU scored the final four points to make the score 35-31 at halftime.
Still a four-point game by the end of the third quarter, Dakota Wesleyan grabbed its first lead since early in the first quarter with an 8-1 run at the start of the fourth quarter. The lead went back and forth over the next 3-4 minutes, until the final surge by Northwestern.
Dakota Wesleyan was led by Matti Reiner with 18 points, making four three-pointers, and pulled down seven rebounds. Haidyn PItsch scored 12 and Isabel Ihnen added 11 points, nine coming from beyond the arc.
