18th-ranked Northwestern College used a big advantage in the second quarter to come away with an 80-69 road win over San Diego Christian in the final game of the SDCC Classic played in Santee, Calif. Northwestern earned its second straight win and improved to 10-5 overall heading into the heart of its GPAC schedule.
Down 22-19 following consecutive buckets by San Diego Christian at the start of the second quarter, Northwestern outscored the hosts 20-2 over a six-minute stretch, finished off with a three-pointer by Bre Schuiteman, to grab a 39-24 lead with three minutes left.
Haley Birks scored eight of her nine points during the decisive run, including converting on a couple of and-one's. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half which resulted in a 45-30 first half lead for Northwestern.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Erica Mccarter capped a 10-0 San Diego Christian run to get the hosts within three, 45-42, at the beginning of the third quarter. Northwestern scored the next seven points, however, and built the lead up to nine (62-53) by the end of the third quarter.
A three-point play by
Darbi Gustafson extended the NW lead to 11 at the 7:21 mark of the fourth quarter and the Red Raiders led by double digits the rest of the way.
Kassidy De Jong netted a game-high 23 points, making 10-of-11 free throw attempts. Gustafson added 14 points and
Sammy Blum came off the bench to score 12, all from beyond the arc. The Red Raiders shot 48% from the field and used a big edge at the free throw line (22/28) compared to 12/14 by SDCS. Northwestern held a slight edge, 34-31, on the boards, led by both Birks and
Renee Maneman.
Maneman dished out seven assists and
Paige Danner totaled five.
San Diego Christian was led by Anessa Wolfblack with 18 points, followed by Danna Robles with 14.
Milestone watch:
De Jong passed both Jackie Olson (1996-00) and Vonda Van Farowe (1988-92) and moved into a tie for 17th place with 1,331 career points; tied with Jaime (Hoegh) Van Kley, who played during the 2003-07 seasons.
Maneman moved to within four assists of breaking the career assists record.
