ST. PAUL, Minn. – Northwestern used a strong first quarter on Saturday night to defeat the Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team 71-57. With the loss the Vikings fall to 4-12 overall and 2-3 in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play, while the Eagles move to 9-7 overall and 5-0 in the conference.

The Eagles came out of the gates strong in this one, as they were able to handle business the first quarter of play and outscore the Vikings 19-7 for the early cushion. The second quarter slowed down for both teams as neither could really find their offensive groove. Each team scored nine points in the frame with Lexiss Trygg scoring four for the Vikings to bring her first half total to eight points as the teams went to the break with the Eagles leading 28-16.

The Vikings got an and-one from Sara Kottke followed by a three-pointer from Skylar Cotten to start the third quarter with a few Eagle baskets in between to trim the deficit to 32-22 with 6:39 remaining in the frame. The Eagles however, would go on a big run to take a 46-27 lead with 2:52 remaining in the third. Bethany would cut the lead back to 12 thanks to a 7-0 run capped off by a Megan Wegner three, but UNW would re-extend their lead to 16 to end the quarter. In the final quarter, the Eagles would continue to press their advantage, pushing their lead to 24 with 3:14 remaining, before the Vikings outscored them 12-2 in the final two minutes.

Trygg led the Vikings in this one with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Skylar Cotton and Sara Kottke each added 10 points. Cotten tied a team-best with five rebounds, with Alba Fernandez also hauling in five rebounds to go along with a team-high four assists.

Bethany will be back in action on Friday when they host Minnesota-Morris for a 7:15 p.m. contest.