MANKATO, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team trailed by five heading into the fourth quarter on Wednesday night but a strong final frame showing helped them to a 79-74 win over Northwestern to claim their eighth win in their last nine contests. With the victory the Vikings move to 9-13 overall and 8-3 in the UMAC while the Eagles fall to 14-8 overall and 8-3 in conference play.
Both team's came to play offensively in this one and it was evident from the start as the team's would trade punches early with the Eagles claiming a 13-7 lead just before the midway point of the first.
Kaylee Hunter would then connect from long range before a
Gianna Klarenbeek three would help buffer a basket from the Eagles to make it 15-13. UNW would push their lead to 19-13 with a minute to go, but late buckets from
Lexiss Trygg and
Juliana Ewald inside made it 19-17 after one quarter of play.
The two teams would go back and forth in the early stages of the second quarter and things would find themselves all square at 28 after a strong finish inside from Trygg with five minutes to go. A Hunter three pointer a few minutes later would put the Vikings on top 32-31, but the Eagles closed the quarter on a 11-2 run to hold a 42-34 lead at the half.
After the Vikings opened the third with three straight baskets to cut the lead down to one, UNW would match the 7-0 run with one of their own to push their lead back to eight at 49-41. Ewald would respond with five points to cut the lead back down to three, but the Eagles would keep Bethany at bay the rest of the quarter and would carry a a 57-52 lead into the fourth.
Momentum continued for Ewald going into the fourth as she would score five more quick points for Bethany as they would embark on a 7-2 run in the first two minutes to even things up at 59. The Vikings would then start to take advantage of their post play inside as
Arinn McGee would score four straight before Trygg connected on a pair of free throws to help Bethany on a 6-3 run and claim a 65-62 edge. A UNW free throw would pull the lead back to two, but two more tough finishes in the paint from McGee made it 69-63 with three minutes to play. The Eagles would finish inside on the other end to cut it to four, but a late in the shot clock three from
Aubrea Kor would push it back to seven with two minutes left. After a corner three from the Eagles the Vikings would get their play of the game and what proved to be the dagger from
Megan Wegner, as she would toss in an acrobatic shot plus a foul for an old-fashioned three point play to put the Vikings up seven with 55 seconds left. Northwestern would get a few layups late but it wasn't enough as Bethany held on for the win.
Five Bethany players finished in double figures and it was Ewald leading the way with 16 points and three assists while Trygg added 15. McGee finished the day with 14 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Klarenbeek added 11 points and Hunter 10.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to UW-Superior for a 4:45 p.m. contest.
