Northwestern College saw its season come to a close with an 87-55 loss to unbeaten and No.2 seed Southeastern (Fla.) in a second round match-up at the 207 NAIA D-II Women's Basketball National Championship.

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Down 10 (40-30) at the half, Northwestern was outscored 47-25 over the final 20 minutes by Southeastern, who just a day before earned their first-ever win at the D-II Championship. The Red Raiders shot 38% in the second half and went 0-for-9 from the three-point line over the final 20 minutes against the Fire, the top defensive team in the NAIA. 

Anna Kiel erupted for a career-high 29 points, making 11-of-14 field goal attempts, and pulled down eight boards. Kassidy De Jong was the only other NWC player in double figures with 12 to go with 11 rebounds, her seventh double-double of the season. 

Northwestern got down 10 early but a three-pointer by Paige Danner closed the gap to four, 18-14, by the end of the first quarter. Southeastern threatened to blow the game open in the second period, outscoring NW 19-4, capped by a three-pointer by Bailey Hooker at the 5-minute mark. Northwestern made it a 10-point game by halftime behind the play of Kiel and De Jong, who combined for the final 10 points of the quarter. 

The second half belonged to Southeastern, the lone unbeaten team left in NAIA Division II. They led 71-44 at the end of the third quarter and extended it to beyond 30 points late in the game. 

Northwestern shot 37% for the game but could not find its shooting touch from the perimeter, going 2/24 from three-point land. They were outrebounded 40-34 against the tall Southeastern line-up.

The Fire were led by Bailey Hooker with 24 points and Sarah Green with 22.

Northwestern ends the season with a 20-12 record, the most wins since 2013-14. 

More Numbers/Milestones:

De Jong recorded the 12th double-double for her career; she also passed both Jill Christensen and Randa Hulstein in career scoring, now in 26th place with 1,049. 

Kiel scored in double figures in her 13th game this season.

This is the final game for the lone senior player, Paige Herrboldt.