Game Time... Top five teams collide as No.3 Northwestern plays host to No.1 Dakota Wesleyan for a key GPAC match-up Wednesday night, Jan. 16. Tip-off at the Bultman Center is scheduled for 6pm. Northwestern is currently tied with Concordia for second place in the GPAC with an 11-2 record, 17-2 overall. Dakota Wesleyan currently sits atop the GPAC standings at 12-1, 19-1 overall. 

Follow the game live via the NWC webcast, courtesy of Stretch Internet, at the following link: Watch Now!

All-Time...Northwestern leads the all-time series 38-20, dating back to the 1982-83 season. The Red Raiders have lost four of the last five and are 3-7 over the last 10 match-ups against DWU. 

Earlier This Season...No.8 Northwestern came up just short in early season showdown between top 10 teams, losing to defending national champion, Dakota Wesleyan, 76-73, in a road game played Nov. 7 at the Corn Palace. 

Haley Birks led Northwestern with 20 points and Kassidy De Jong registered her second double-double of the season, scoring 13 points to go with a season-high 16 rebounds. Both Darbi Gustafson and Alexis Toering added 12 points each with the freshman matching her career-high.

Both teams held double digit leads in a back-and-forth first half that ended with Northwestern leading 36-34. After Birks broke free for a lay-up to put Northwestern up seven (36-29), DWU scored the final five points of the first half, finished off with a Madison Mathews three-pointer just before the horn to make it a one possession game.

The third quarter was close throughout as the two nationally ranked teams jostled to take control. Tied for the seventh time in the third quarter (50-50) on a nifty back-cut by Gustafson from an assist by Jada Cunningham, Dakota Wesleyan closed with an 8-2 run over the final two-plus minutes for a 63-57 lead. 

Gustafson and Toering sparked a 10-1 Northwestern run as the Red Raiders surged ahead at the start of the fourth quarter, 67-64. Still leading by one after another basket by Toering (69-68), back-to-back three-pointers by Carr and Cheeseman put the hosts in front for good, 74-69, with 2:30 left to play. Northwestern cut the lead down to one on a lay-up by De Jong (74-73) with 10 seconds remaining but Cheeseman drained two free throws and the Red Raiders missed on a game-tying three-pointer with one second left. 

Northwestern shot 44% for the game, 5/17 (29%) from the three-point line and 86% (12/14) from the charity stripe. The Red Raiders committed just 12 turnovers, compared to 15 by DWU, but were outrebounded for the first time this season, 32-30. Cunningham dished out a season-high four assists.

Dakota Wesleyan shot 42%, drained 9-of-17 three-pointers (53%) and had a slight advantage from the free throw line, going 17-for-20. Carr scored game-high 27 points and Cheeseman added 26, including four three-pointers. 

Scouting Reports...

    No. 2 Dakota Wesleyan Tigers: 12-1 (1st), 19-1 overall            Head Coach: Jason Christensen (9th year)

DWU has won six straight since losing its only game of the season, an 82-68 home setback to Concordia on Dec. 15. They have rattled off wins against Keiser (Fla.), St. Francis (Ill.), Morningside, College of Saint Mary, Dordt and Midland, defeating the Warriors last time out (Jan.13) 98-78 at the Corn Palace. DWU is in first place in the current GPAC standings, owning a 12-1 record, and has been ranked first in the NAIA for the last three coaches' polls. The Tigers are 19-1 overall and opened the season with 13 straight wins.

Christensen, now in his ninth season as the head coach of the Tigers program, returns two starters and seven players from a 2017-18 team that won the NAIA D-II National Championship with a 32-6 record. They finished tied with Northwestern for second in the GPAC with a 16-4 record and were picked to finish second, behind Concordia, in the preseason poll.

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 81.1ppg (5th / 9th)
    Scoring Defense: 61.1ppg (1st)
    Field Goal Percentage: 48% (2nd / 2nd)
    3pt Percentage: 35% (5th), 133 3pters (9th) 
    Free Throw Percentage: 83% (1st / 1st)
    Rebound Margin: +6 (3rd)

Top Players:  (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Kynedi Cheeseman (All-Conference) 18.6ppg (3rd), 44 3pters (9th), 4.5 rpg, 75 assists 
    Sarah Carr  17.9ppg (5th), 25 3pters, 5.2rpg
    Riley Osthus  (3x All-Conference)  11.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 119 assists (2nd / 3rd)
    Makaela Karst  11ppg, 16 3pters, 5.1rpg, 23 blks (8th)

No.3 Northwestern Red Raiders: 11-2 (T2nd), 17-2 overall        Head Coach: Chris Yaw (8th year)

The Red Raiders have won three of their last four games, earning wins over Doane, Mount Marty and College of Saint Mary last time out, 90-46, in a game played in Omaha, Neb. Kassidy De Jong recorded her fifth double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Darbi Gustafson notched her GPAC-leading eight double-double with 10 points and 10 boards against the Flames. Both Taylor VanderVelde (14pts) and Sammy Blum (12pts) were also in double figures as Northwestern opened up a 13-2 lead and never trailed.

Northwestern is tied with Concordia for second in the GPAC at 11-2, one game in back of DWU. They are 17-2 overall and are one of four GPAC teams ranked in the top 10, one of seven recognized in the latest poll. 

Northwestern is the top scoring team in the GPAC and rank third in the NAIA in points per game (88.8)

The Red Raiders are first in the nation in both field goal percentage (49%) and three-point percentage (39%)

Coach Yaw's squad is third in the NAIA in rebounding (+13)

Kassidy De Jong has scored in double figures in every game and ranks eighth in the NAIA in scoring; the senior is closing in on the 2,000-point milestone

Both Darbi Gustafson (18th) and Haley Birks (24th) rank among the top 25 in career scoring with 1,347 and 1,187 points, respectively

Sammy Blum ranks third in the GPAC with 51 three-pointers and third in the NAIA in three-point percentage (51%)

By the Numbers: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10)
    Scoring Offense: 88.8ppg (1st / 3rd)
    Scoring Defense: 64.1ppg (3rd)
    Field Goal Percentage: 49% (1st / 1st)
    3pt Percentage: 39% (1st / 1st), 162 3pters (5th)
    Free Throw Percentage: 76% (2nd)
    Rebound Margin: +12 (1st / 3rd)

Top Players: (GPAC rank / NAIA rank-if top 10) *returning starter
     *Kassidy De Jong (2x All-American) 19ppg (2nd / 8th), 45 3pters (6th), 7.7rpg (T3rd)
     *Darbi Gustafson (All-Conference) 16.5ppg (6th), 56% (4th), 7.9rpg (2nd), 22 blocks (6th)    
     *Haley Birks (All-Conference) 13.5ppg, 85 FT % (3rd), 3.8rpg
     Sammy Blum - 11.5ppg, 51 3pters (1st), 51% 3pt (1st / 3rd), 69 assists (9th)