ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bethany Vikings (17-4, 10-2) won their eighth game in a row after defeating the Eagles of Northwestern (11-9, 7-4) on Wednesday evening in St. Paul. The Vikings entered tonight's game in second place in the UMAC while the Eagles were in third. With the win tonight, the Vikings continue their push to solidify a home game in the UMAC tournament semi-finals.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a 10-4 lead early after a steal and layup from Haley Sandin. Just before the end of the first quarter, Sandin came away with another steal and dished off a pass to Abby Olson for a 16-9 lead. The momentum of the game turned in favor of the Eagles in the second quarter as they outscored the Vikings 18-13. In a low scoring first half, the Vikings shot 36.1% from the field and they were 0-11 from downtown. Haley Sandin scored nine points and had five steals in the first half and Abby Olson gave the Vikings eight points. At the break, the Vikings led the Eagles 29-27.
 
The Vikings took control of the game in the third quarter. Low post scoring from Hanna Geistfeld and three-point shooting from Brooke Henning helped the Vikings increase their lead to as much as 15 points. Hanna Geistfeld scored nine second half points for the Vikings and Brooke Henning scored 13 points in the second half to help the Vikings secure a win by a final score of 70-52.
 
Haley Sandin had a game-high 19 points with six steals and four assists. Brooke Henning and Hanna Geistfeld had 15 points apiece while Emily Skrien contributed nine points off the bench. The Vikings ended the game shooting 43.9% from the field after a 53.3% output in the second half. Bethany had 15 assists and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds as a team.
 
Up Next: The Vikings face another tough road test at the University of Minnesota-Morris on Saturday, February 3rd. The game will tipoff at 5 PM and is featured as the UMAC game of the week.
 
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MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Dan DeWitt at 507-344-7856 or email ddewitt@blc.edu