ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Bethany Lutheran women's basketball team saw their season come to a close on Wednesday night when they fell to Northwestern 79-66. With the loss the Vikings finish the season at 11-15 overall while the Eagles advance to the UMAC Championship with a record of 18-8. 

Northwestern would get out to a 10-4 lead to open things up in this one and would extend it to 15-8 a few minutes later thanks to a steal and a three pointer on the other end. Bethany would hold UNW scoreless the final three minutes though and Juliana Ewald would knock down a jumper to make it 15-10 after one. 

After a slow first quarter from the field for Bethany, the second was the opposite and it was Ewald who kicked it off with another bucket before Gianna Klarenbeek finished inside to cut the deficit to one. During the middle of the frame, the Eagles would attempt to gain some steam but Ewald scored six straight Viking points to thwart any momentum and kept the deficit at just three. The two teams then traded a few baskets before Kenadi Arndt would find her rhythm, finishing back-to-back plays in the paint before Klarenbeek connected on a pair of free throws to put the Vikings up 33-32 at the half. 

The Vikings opened the second half with a 7-4 run, pushing their lead to four points early on. Ewald continued to shine, connecting from long range to help extend the advantage. However, Northwestern quickly responded with an 8-0 run in the middle of the quarter, flipping the momentum and regaining the lead. Bethany struggled to find their rhythm after falling behind by as many as seven points, but a Viking free throw and a key finish inside from Arndt cut the deficit to just four points as the teams prepared for the fourth. 

After Northwestern opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, Kor responded with a quick layup inside. The Eagles quickly answered back with another three-pointer, and then, after more than a minute of scoreless play, Northwestern struck again with yet another long range connection. They would cap off their impressive start to the fourth a few possessions later with an old fashioned three point play, pushing their lead to 65-51 with seven minutes remaining.

Lexiss Trygg would score four quick points to cut the lead, but another three-pointer from Northwestern pushed the margin back to 15. Kor and Klarenbeek kept the Vikings in it, each scoring a basket to bring them within 11 points. However, the Eagles responded with a clutch three-pointer and a steal followed by a fast-break layup, extending the lead to 16 with just three minutes left and they were able to close things out from there for the 79-66 win. 

Trygg finished the game with 16 points for Bethany to go along with six rebounds. Ewald and Kor also each reached double digits with 15 and 13 points, respectively, with Ewald also adding six boards.