Box Score MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team (8-1 overall) defeated Northwestern 67-50 (14-5) in a UMAC Tournament semifinal game Saturday, to advance the Tournament Championship Monday. This will be the fourth-straight appearance in the title game for the program.

The score remained close over the first two minutes of the contest, as it was tied at 4-4 with 8:01 to go. Senior Hanna Geistfeld (Truman, Minn.) completed a three-point play, junior Laura Ellinghuysen (Winona, Minn.) made a triple, and Geistfeld made another layup to solidify the lead for the Vikings for good.

The second-seeded Eagles made it a one-point game early in the second quarter (18-17). Bethany responded with a 20-3 run over the next six minutes to push the lead into double figures.

The Vikings led 40-24 at halftime, as Geistfeld had 19 points and BLC shot a blistering 65.4% from the field.

Bethany continued to lead by double figures in the second half, and led by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Geistfeld finished with a double double with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Sara Kottke (Buffalo Lake, Minn.) had 13 points and Laura Ellinghuysen completed the leading scorers with 11 points.

The Vikings owned the team advantages in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, rebounds, and assists. Defensively, it held UNW to 14.8% from beyond the arc.

BLC will face the winner of North Central/Minnesota Morris that is slated to tipoff at 7 p.m. tonight. The tournament championship game will be on Monday, March 8.