Northwestern College lost to 12th-ranked Dakota Wesleyan 82-71 in the final game of the regular season for the Red Raiders played tonight in Mitchell, S.D.
The Red Raider close the regular season in fifth place with a 10-10 record, 18-10 overall, and will be the fifth seed in the upcoming GPAC Tournament that begins next week. Dakota Wesleyan is 15-4 in conference play, 24-4 overall, with one game left to play in the regular season.
Anna Kiel led Northwestern with 20 points, going 7-for-9 from the floor, and six rebounds. Darbi Gustafson netted 14 and both Paige Danner and Haley Birks were also in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
How It Happened...
Trailing by one after a back-and-forth opening minutes, Northwestern went on the game's first run, outscoring DWU 9-2 to take a 17-11 lead after a basket by Kiel.
Up 19-14 after one quarter, a Danner three-pointer pushed the Red Raider lead to seven (27-20) with five minutes left. The host Tigers, however, closed on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 30 heading into halftime.
A three-point play by Kynedi Cheeseman gave DWU a 43-35 lead early in the third. Northwestern countered with an 8-2 spurt and trailed by just four, 56-52, by the end of the quarter following four straight points by Kiel.
Still a five point game (58-53), DWU outscored the Red Raiders 14-5 during a three-minute stretch to take its largest lead, 72-58.
Northwestern made one final charge, and after a Danner three-pointer, was down just four (74-70) and gained possession with 61 seconds left.
A Red Raider turnover followed by a Kristin Sabers three-pointer iced the game for DWU during the final minute.
By the Numbers...
Northwestern shot 49% for the game, 31% (5/16) from beyond the arc; Dakota Wesleyan shot 41% from the field, 26% (7/27) from the three-point line.
The Tigers held a big edge at the free throw line, making 22-of-24 (92%); Northwestern went 11-for-17 (65%)
Northwestern held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding DWU 30-24; both teams pulled down nine on the offensive end.
Foul trouble limited the minutes of both Kassidy De Jong and Kiel; De Jong picked up her fourth in the opening minutes of the second half and Kiel played with four fouls for nearly the entire fourth quarter
Renee Maneman dished out 10 assists, her sixth game with 10+ assists this season; Maneman also set the single season record for assists, breaking the old mark of 204 held by Miranda (Boekhout) Riediger during the 2007-08 season; Maneman broke the record with an assist on a Danner three-pointer at the 3-minute mark of the first quarter; she is now alone in fourth place all-time with 482 assists
Rylie Osthus led DWU with 20 points and eight assists, going 11-for-11 from the free throw line; Sabers scored 16 coming off the Tigers' bench, draining four three-pointers.
The eight-team GPAC postseason tournament bracket will be announced Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18.
