Box Score Women's Basketball Falls to Northwestern in UMAC Semifinals
Photo Credit: Sara Eisenhauer
ST. PAUL – The Bethany women's basketball team was in action Wednesday taking part in the semifinals of the 2016 UMAC Postseason Tournament. This marked the first time the Vikings have played in the postseason since the 2011-12 season, when the Vikings played Martin Luther in the opening round of the UMAC tournament.
In the semifinals, Bethany traveled to Northwestern to take on the Eagles in the Ericksen Center. The Eagles swept the regular season series over Bethany, defeating the Vikings 77-56 in Mankato before winning a 68-65 thriller 11 days ago inside the Ericksen Center.
In a game that was back and forth, the Vikings saw their season come to an end as they fell to Northwestern by a final of 66-53.
In the first quarter of play, Bethany struggled to find a flow on the offensive end, trailing 17-7 on the road against the Eagles after 10 minutes of action. Back-to-back three point baskets by
Rachel Sorensen and
Haley Sandin knotted the game at 21 apiece with 04:30 remaining until half. A slow first quarter lead to a fast pace second quarter, as the Vikings were able to score 22 points in the second frame to take a 29-28 lead into half time.
Northwestern went into half with a field goal percentage of 43.5% (10-23) compared to Bethany, who shot just 30.6% (11-36).
Haley Sandin led all scorers with 10 points while
Rachel Sorensen added eight points.
Briana Brandts brought down nine rebounds to lead Bethany.
The see-saw contest continued throughout the third quarter of play, with both teams trying to take command of the game. In the final minutes of the third, Northwestern drilled a few three's and capitalized from the free-throw line to take a 52-43 lead going into the fourth and final quarter of the semifinal match up.
Northwestern connected on a pair of baskets to open up the fourth quarter, extending their lead to 12 with just under seven minutes remaining. The Eagles continued to apply pressure while knocking down tough shots, to extend their lead to 16 points with just under four minutes left.
Bethany continued to battle with the No. 2 seeded Eagles, but the home team proved to be too much for the Vikings in the semifinal match up on Wednesday night. With the win, Northwestern will now travel to UW-Superior on Saturday to take on the Yellowjackets in the 2016 UMAC Championship game.
Looking at the numbers:- Haley Sandin finished her freshman campaign by scoring 24 points on the night.
- Briana Brandts capped off her career with another double-double. The forward scored 10 points while collecting 15 rebounds.
- Rachel Sorensen finished with eight points, connecting on a pair of three-pointers.
- Dakota Ellinghuysen added nine points and five rebounds for the Vikings.
The Vikings shot 29.3% from the field, going 6-21 beyond the 3-point arc, while hitting 13-20 from the free throw line. The Eagles shot 43.4% from the field, going 7-17 from beyond the 3-point arc, while hitting 13-17 from the free throw line. The Vikings had 16 turnovers in the game. Northwestern finished with 23.
The Vikings end the 2015-16 season with a 14-12 overall record. They went 10-6 in conference play.
