North Central vs Northwestern Synopsis 12-8-18

After leaving Augsburg's Si Melby Hall, I made my way over to Snelling Avenue to head up to Ericksen Center on the campus of the University of Northwestern to take in the UMAC clash between visiting North Central and host Northwestern.  I got settled into Ericksen Center at the 5:35 mark of the second period with the Eagles leading 22-17. 

One nice thing about most MIAC game starting in the 1:00 P.M. slot is that it does give me a chance to catch one of the late afternoon games from either the UMAC or the NSIC and today it was going over to watch Northwestern again as they were taking on in-town UMAC opponent North Central.  The Eagles would manage to control things down the stretch for the most part anyway.  Two free throws by freshman point guard Kelsea Lund who was fouled in a transition opportunity with 3:12 left upped the lead to 24-17 before North Central could trim it back to five when senior guard Haleigh Filer connected with a lay-up with 2:23 left.  Northwestern, however, would close out this first half on a 7-0 push.  Sophomore forward Miranda Crenshaw snared an offensive rebound for a putback with 2:09 left and a little more than a minute later senior guard Amy Berglund connected with a lay-up in transition with 1:01 left to get the lead to nine points at 28-19.  With :03 left before the halftime buzzer, Lund would bang home a "3" from the left top area to open up some breathing room for the Eagles as they took a 31-19 lead into the locker room at the half.  Although Northwestern certainly wasn't setting the world on fire with their first half shooting; going 12-31 from FG range for 38.7% and 3-15 from behind the arc for 20%, it was a much more dismal situation for the Rams as they were only 7-30 from FG range for 23.3% and 3-19 for 15.8% from three-point land and that was something that was going to have to improve if North Central Head Coach Paul Brunner and his team wanted to snare a big road win. 

And whatever message that Brunner had for his squad in the locker room during the halftime break sure seemed to rub off on junior guard Betty Rand in the opening moments of the third period as her back-to-back three-point bombs - one from the left corner at the 9:31 mark and again from the right wing area at the 8:47 mark - pulled the Rams back within striking distance down 31-25.  Perhaps somewhat alarmed by this latest development, Northwestern set out to widen the gap again.  Berglund connected with a jumper along the left baseline at the 8:27 mark and a lay-up junior forward Rio Landers at the 7:17 mark upped the Eagle lead to ten points at 35-25 and two Berglund free throws at the 6:05 mark helped maintain that ten-point edge at 37-27.  Then freshman reserve forward Megan Roberts got a jumper to go down from the free throw line off the glass with 4:27 left and fellow freshman reserve guard Brooklyn DeKam knocked down a jumper from the left wing off of an inbounds pass with 3:43 left and suddenly Northwestern was in very good shape up 41-27.  Right back came North Central, however, as sophomore guard Allison Bulthuis exploded with a scoring outburst.  The former Central Minnesota Christian High School standout got a lay-up out of a steal in the backcourt with 3:18 left and a Bulthuis "3" from the left top area with 2:52 left had the Rams back in single-digit range again down 41-32.  Bulthuis would also knock down a jumper along the right baseline with 1:34 left to cut the deficit down to seven points at 41-34 before finally relinquishing the scoring to one of her teammates.  Willowy sophomore forward Emily DiGiorgio snared an offensive rebound for a putback with :58 left and was fouled in the process and although she couldn't cash in on the obligatory free throw, North Central was right back in business down 41-36 as the game morphed into the fourth period. 

The Rams managed to crawl closer in the opening minutes of the fourth period as well.  Freshman forward Naomi Hagstrom got two free throws to go down after getting fouled at the 7:38 mark and a short shot by Rand at the 6:53 mark now had North Central in great position down only 43-40 with a mountain of time left.  Strangely, however, the Rams never could quite find the same magic again after this as Northwestern woke up from their brief slumber and started pulling away.  Crenshaw muscled into the paint for one score at the 6:34 mark sparked a key 11-2 Eagle run that changed the outcome of this one for good.  Berglund followed up with a drive and finish at the 5:59 mark and a drive into the lane and finish off the glass by Crenshaw at the 5:25 mark now had Northwestern up 49-42.  Then Berglund drained a big "3" from the left top area with 4:21 left to get the lead to ten at 52-42 and a Crenshaw lay-up with 3:46 left had the Eagles up 54-42.  North Central sophomore guard Alice Cato tried to stop her team's bleeding with a lay-up with 1:16 left and Brunner would subsequently call a timeout shortly thereafter but the damage had been done and there would be no recovery.  Northwestern's Lund would drop one insurance free throw after getting fouled with :51.4 left as would Berglund with :19.4 left as the Eagles finally snapped their losing streak with an important 56-44 conference victory. 

I managed to catch up with Northwestern Head Coach Aaron Kahl afterward who was in a good mood after finally getting back into the victory column again.  I asked him about his squad's recent struggles during their extended losing streak.  I think some of it can be chalked up to inexperience but Kahl wasn't willing to go that route.  "We just haven't been 'clicking' as well as I thought we would."  Certainly a conference win has to be something of a boost of confidence for this team and I think they got it on this day.  Not surprisingly, it was Berglund and Crenshaw who carried the Eagles on this day with 18 and 16 points, respectively.  And 10 rebounds by Landers were big as well on this afternoon.  North Central got a big day from both Bulthuis and Rand who finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.  Rebounds were even on this day as both teams finished with 34 and turnovers pretty much evened out with North Central committing 21 and Northwestern guilty of 20.  Perhaps one of the bigger differences in this game was that Northwestern had the edge in those critical points in the paint by a 24-18 count but what was probably more disappointing to North Central's Brunner more than anything else on this day was how his squad faded down the stretch after drawing to within a single possession early in the fourth period.