The Championship game of the NWC Tip Off Tourney featured Friday's winner UW-River Falls and Northwestern. UW-River Falls, I knew, had superior speed and quickness. Yet, on Northwestern's home court, I figured the Eagles could give their WIAC opponent a tough game. I was wrong.
The Eagles started off well enough with Katie DeWitt hitting a "3" at the 18:34 mark for Northwestern's only lead of the game. Over the course of nearly 11 minutes, UW-River Falls would proceed to go on an unbelievable 31-0 run before Northwestern scored again (finally) at the 7:48 mark. The Falcons love to press and create turnovers off that press and they did exactly that numerous time during the onslaught. Brittany Gregorich lit up the Ericksen Center with her fabulous three-point shooting during the run and Amanda Dohrn and Taylor House were unstoppable down low. Even more discouraging for Northwestern, the Falcons suffocating defense took the Eagles out of their offensive rythym and made Katie DeWitt a non-factor the rest of the first half as UW-River Falls took an insurmountable 45-14 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Falcons would not lose any momentum or touch going into the second half either as they were able to build up a 62-25 lead at the 11:35 mark. Northwestern would manage to get on a 12-0 run of their own midway through the second half but it wouldn't be nearly enough. Strangely quiet in this contest tonight was Allison Johnson who came away with only two points (scored with 1:23 left) and only three rebounds; a far cry from her dominating performance last night vs North Central. DeWitt would finish with an eerie-like performance; 10 points on 2-13 shooting (1-5 from three-point land) UW-River Falls would win this one in convincing fashion 74-43.
Without question, UW-River Falls brought their "A" game into tonight's Championship tilt. When they play their best (Dohrn, House dominant down low, Tiffany Gregorich hot from behind the arc and sister Brittany able to slash and drive, coupled with athletic defense and fast break opportunities) they're awfully tough to beat and, if things work out for them, they have an excellent shot at winning the WIAC this year.
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