Northwestern College came up short against Morningside, 83-75, in a conference match-up between ranked teams played tonight at the Bultman Center.
The Red Raiders lost their second straight game and drop to an even 8-8 in the GPAC, 16-8 overall. Morningside improved to 10-5 in conference play, 19-6 overall.
Anna Kiel led Northwestern with 20 points and five rebounds while Kassidy De Jong registered her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards. Paige Danner drained a season-high four three-pointers and scored 12 while both Haley Birks and Renee Maneman scored 10.
How It Happened...
Northwestern closed a back-and-forth first quarter with a 7-0 run on a three-pointer by Birks and back-to-back jumpers by Kiel to take a 25-19 lead.
Morningside began the second quarter with a 14-3 run and led 33-28 after a three-pointer by Mustangs' guard Madison Braun. Northwestern battled back and following a three-pointer by De Jong, tied the game at 35. The game was again tied, 40-40, at halftime.
A 13-3 Mustangs' run over the first four-plus minutes of the third quarter put the visitors in front for good. Morningside pushed its lead to as many as 11 by quarters end, 64-53, as Northwestern shot just 36% in the period.
Morningside led 79-63 after a three-pointer by Taylor Bahensky with 4:00 minutes left but Northwestern charged back with a 12-2 surge and cut the lead to six on a put-back by Birks with 20 seconds left.
By the Numbers...
Northwestern shot 39% for the game, both from the field and from beyond the arc (10/26); Morningside shot 42% for the game and 37% from the three-point line (11/30).
Free throws were nearly even, with Northwestern (13/16) and Morningside (12/17)
Turnovers were a big factor with Northwestern committing 18 compared to eight by the Mustangs
Northwestern controlled the boards, 47-38
With her 20-point effort, Kiel now has scored in double figures six straight games and has two 20+-point games
De Jong has six double-doubles this season, third most in the GPAC
Birks recorded a career-high five blocked shots and leads the GPAC with 37 on the year
Darbi Gustafson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds; her 11th game with 10+ boards
Lauren Lemkuhl poured in a game-high 23 points, draining five three-pointers; four other Mustang players were in double figures, Madison Braun (15), Lexi Ackerman (14), Taylor Bahensky (13) and Sydney Hupp (10).
