News Release

ST. PAUL, Minn. — It wasn’t the prettiest victory of the season, but the Northwestern College (Minn.) women’s basketball team will still take it. The Eagles came back from a 5-point halftime deficit to slip by Crown College (Minn.) 64-53 on Tuesday night in the Ericksen Center. With the win, Northwestern improved their overall record to 10-8 and their Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) showing to 5-2, while the visiting Storm fell to 4-12 on the year and 0-7 in UMAC contests.

After scoring the first 4 points of the game, Northwestern allowed Crown to string together an 11-0 run as the Storm were in front 11-to-4 with 13:33 remaining in the first half. Crown maintained their advantage throughout the half, leading by as many as 8 points, before both teams headed to their locker rooms at the midway point with the scoreboard reading 31-to-26 in favor of the Storm.

The Eagles turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and were out-rebounded by Crown in a 19-to-12 margin. Nine of the Storm’s 19 boards were offensive, which created 7 second-chance points.

Northwestern appeared to have more energy in the second half and took better care of the ball. The Eagles started the half posting a 10-to-4 run as they finally went ahead 36-to-35 with 16:25 left on the game clock. Northwestern continued to own the upper-hand, slowly increasing their advantage to 11 points at 54-to-43 with just under 5 minutes remaining in the league affair. Crown was able to close within 5 points at 56-to-51 with 2:46 left, but that would be as close as they would get with the Eagles sealing the victory by making their final 6 free throw attempts.

Finally settling down, Northwestern made 13-of-26 (50.0%) field goal attempts in the second half and 11-of-12 (91.7%) free throws. They finished the game sinking 22-of-47 (46.8%) from the floor and 17-of-20 (85.0%) from the charity stripe. Northwestern out-rebounded Crown 22-to-11 in the second half.

Eagle sophomore forward Heather Thompson (Akaska, S.D./Selby Area High School) set a new career high, racking up 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, also grabbing 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Junior post player Hannah McEvoy (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West High School) continued her impressive play, netting 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Katie Tuseth (White Bear Lake, Minn.), a sophomore guard, provided plenty of offense off the bench for Northwestern, adding 12 points and 5 rebounds as she connected on 5-of-6 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range.

For Crown College, senior standout guard Jill Stumbo (Ogden, Iowa) recorded her third straight game of scoring 30 or more points. Stumbo poured in a game-high 36 points, accounting for well over half of the Storm’s offensive production. Jill was successful on 15-of-33 field goal attempts and 5-of-13 from behind the arc.

Northwestern College is now 46-2 all-time against Crown College and 25-0 all-time at home against the Storm. The Eagles will continue UMAC action on Friday night, traveling to the University of Minnesota-Morris for a 5:30 p.m. showdown. Northwestern stands just 1 game back of Minnesota-Morris and Presentation College in the UMAC regular season standings.

Crown College Women vs Northwestern College Women
01/24/06 5:30 PM at St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
At St. Paul, Minn./Ericksen Center
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE WOMEN 64, CROWN COLLEGE WOMEN 53
CROWN COLLEGE WOMEN (4-12, 0-7 UMAC)
Jill Stumbo 15-33 1-2 36; Stephanie Schmitz 3-7 0-0 6; Jeanette Purcell 2-8
0-2 5; Bronwyn Weiss 2-4 0-0 4; Angie Hotetter 1-5 0-2 2; Holly Forsness 0-0
0-2 0; Amy Berge 0-1 0-0 0; Megan Dellos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 1-8 53.
NORTHWESTERN COLLEGE WOMEN (10-8, 5-2 UMAC)
Thompson, Heather 7-10 4-4 18; McEvoy, Hannah 5-8 6-8 16; Tuseth, Katie 5-6
0-0 12; Lind, Aimee 2-6 4-4 9; Ross, Julie 2-8 1-2 5; Chandler, Maggie 1-9
2-2 4; Sir, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0; Weber, Megan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 17-20 64.
Crown College Women...........   31   22  -   53
Northwestern College Women....   26   38  -   64
3-point goals-Crown College Women 6-20 (Jill Stumbo 5-13; Jeanette Purcell
1-5; Amy Berge 0-1; Stephanie Schmitz 0-1), Northwestern College Women 3-8
(Tuseth, Katie 2-2; Lind, Aimee 1-5; Chandler, Maggie 0-1). Fouled
out--Crown College Women-Holly Forsness, Northwestern College Women-None.
Rebounds-Crown College Women 30 (Bronwyn Weiss 6), Northwestern College
Women 34 (Ross, Julie 8). Assists-Crown College Women 8 (Amy Berge 7),
Northwestern College Women 11 (Lind, Aimee 3; McEvoy, Hannah 3; Ross, Julie
3). Total fouls-Crown College Women 14, Northwestern College Women 9.
Northwestern College is 46-2 all-time against Crown College and 25-0 all-time
at home against the Storm.  Northwestern has won 32 straight games against
Crown College.