Dubuque vs Northwestern 12-21-19

My last game before the holiday break took me over to Roseville and Ericksen Center on the campus of the University of Northwestern for an intriguing non-conference matchup between visiting Dubuque out of the American Rivers Conference which made its way up the Canadian Pacific Marquette and River Sub mainlines up to the Twin Cities to take on host Northwestern of the UMAC.  This incredibly young Spartan team; dominated by freshman, sophomores and juniors with just one senior, was sporting a so-so 4-4 record coming into this contest.  It was much the same story on the Northwestern side with the Eagles coming in at 6-6 after starting this season 0-4 so it was an opportunity for both squads to build a little bit of momentum going into the holiday break.

Northwestern appeared to be loose and full of fun coming into this game as Head Coach Aaron Kahl and his staff were all dressed in Christmas sweaters or outfits and even though things were tight early on, the Eagles appeared to have an edge.  Dubuque got on the board first as sophomore forward Mimi Smith got into the paint for a finish at the 9:16 mark of the opening period despite the fact that Northwestern's Kahl was employing his trademark 2-3 "matchup" zone defense from the outset.  After the Eagles claimed the lead on a "3" from the right corner by senior forward Rio Landers at the 8:56 mark, Dubuque came right back as freshman forward Tabria Thomas snared a steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up at the 7:48 mark.  The Eagles reclaimed the lead at 6-4 when junior guard Jordan Sauve drained a "3" from the left corner at the 7:17 mark but Dubuque again responded as athletic freshman guard Kennedy Litvinoff got a tip-in to go down at the 6:42 mark that tied this game at 6 a piece.  Northwestern's Landers came up with her second three-point bomb on this Saturday afternoon from the left wing area at the 6:31 mark that pushed the home team back out in front 9-6 and Spartans Head Coach Mark Noll; perhaps a bit concerned at Northwestern's ability to knock down three-pointers, called a thirty-second timeout to try and make some quick defensive adjustments.  Dubuque would cut the deficit down to one point when junior reserve forward Jaden Kelley connected with a lay-up at the 6:04 mark but right back came the Eagles with still another three-point dagger - this one from slender sophomore guard Brooklyn Dekam at the 5:18 mark to push Northwestern out to a 12-8 advantage.  The Spartans stayed determined, however, as Kelley connected with another lay-up with 4:51 left and junior reserve forward Alli Bailey was able to snare an offensive rebound for a putback with 3:23 left to get this game deadlocked again at 12-all.  Litvinoff would do the same with 1:13 left to keep the game tied at 14 and Dubuque would take the lead when freshman reserve guard Gianna Ellis connected with a lay-up in transition with :56 left.  Fittingly, however, the Eagles reclaimed the lead when spunky sophomore point guard Kelsea Lund drained a "3" from the left corner off of an inbounds pass with :30 left to give Northwestern a 17-16 lead going into the second period.  Considering that the Spartans had to absorb five three-point bombs in just the first period alone and were down by only one on the road, Noll and his staff probably were more than willing to take that.

Dubuque managed to stay within a single possession in the early minutes of the second period as one free throw by Kelley at the 8:42 mark and a Bailey lay-up at the 6:58 mark had the deficit at two points down 21-19.  It was here, however, where the Eagles were able to open up some more space on their opponent.  Three pairs of free throws by DeKam - two at the 6:13 mark and two more at the 5:39 mark - not only upped Northwestern's lead to 25-19 but the Eagles were now in the bonus as well.  The third pair came with 2:56 left that upped Northwestern's lead to 27-20 as the Spartans struggled with their half-court offense.  Then Lund inflicted more damage from downtown when she uncorked a "3" from the right wing area with 2:29 left to give the Eagles their first double-digit lead of the day at 30-20.  With 1:58 left, Lund; the former Lac qui Parle Valley standout, unleashed another dagger "3" - this one from the left wing area - that got the lead to 33-22 and two Lund freebies after she was fouled with 1:28 left upped the lead to 35-22.  Dubuque finally stopped some of the bleeding with 1:19 left when senior reserve guard Josephine Thomas banged home a "3" from the right corner with 1:19 left and one free throw by junior reserve guard Chelsea Jackson with :45.1 left and two more by Kelley with :22.1 left had the Spartans back in single-digit range again down 35-28 and a three-point bomb with just :01.3 left by junior reserve guard Morgan Meerstein from the right wing area had Dubuque down by only six at 37-31 as both teams retreated to the locker room for the halftime break. 

Despite Northwestern's Sauve draining a "3" from the left corner at the 9:46 mark of the third period to up the Eagle lead to nine at 40-31, the Spartans were able to stay within striking distance early on as a lay-up by sophomore guard Abigail Zurcher at the 9:25 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Litvinoff at the 9:09 mark kept the deficit at five points at 40-35 and Dubuque appeared to still be right in the thick of things.  But the Eagles made their first significant push of this second half with a key 11-0 run that would point the way to ultimate victory.  Lund drained her fourth trey of this ballgame - this one from the left corner at the 8:45 mark - to start the run and less than a minute later, Lund would snare a steal and dash the other way for a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" now had Northwestern back up by double digits again at 46-35.  Then it would be DeKam drilling a "3" from the top of the key at the 7:26 mark to expand the lead to 49-35 and Dubuque's Noll was clamoring for a full timeout by this point knowing full and well that his squad was close to the point of no return.  Freshman reserve forward Hailey Paup would complete the run for the Eagles with her lay-up off of an inbounds pass at the 5:19 mark before the Spartans could begin the arduous process of trying to cut into this deficit.  Kelley would make a key contribution as she was able to score in the paint off of an inbounds pass with 4:34 left and drew a foul in the process and her obligatory free throw had the deficit down to thirteen points at 51-38.  Bailey's two free throws after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 4:08 left provided a glimmer of hope for the Dubuque faithful but reality would soon set in as the Eagles quickly went back to work.  Sophomore reserve guard Grace Langmade connected with a short running jumper from the left side with 3:57 left and a lay-up in transition by sophomore reserve forward Megan Roberts with 2:53 left along with a Roberts freebie with 2:30 left increased Northwestern's lead to 56-40.  Two score by DeKam - a hard drive and finish with 1:38 left and a "3" from the right corner with :58 left - pushed the lead to nineteen at 61-42.  Landers would add more insurance before this third period ended as she dropped two free throws after getting fouled with :31.4 left and connected with a short shot off the glass with just :01.3 left as the Eagles took a sizable 65-42 lead going into the fourth period. 

Dubuque was clearly in desperation mode once the fourth period got underway and although one free throw by Kelley at the 9:07 mark and an offensive rebound and putback by freshman guard Kathleen Mathias at the 8:15 mark made a bit of a dent in the deficit, they would need a substantial run to get back into this and that wasn't happening on this day as the Eagles started to consolidate on their lead.  Strong junior forward Miranda Crenshaw muscled into the paint for a score at the 8:04 mark and a Sauve lay-up at the 6:27 mark kept the lead in the twenty-plus range at 71-48.  A Roberts score in the paint at the 5:56 mark and another Sauve lay-up at the 5:29 mark upped the lead to 75-51 before the Spartans could respond with consecutive scores.  Two Zurcher free throws after she was fouled in a transition opportunity with 4:59 left and a Litvinoff lay-up in transition with 4:32 left again cut into the deficit but Dubuque was still down plenty at 75-55.  The Eagles started putting the finishing touches on this game as a Paup lay-up with 3:51 left got the lead to 77-55 and then Landers would connect with a lay-up and draw a foul in the process with 3:25 left and her ensuing free throw pushed the lead to 80-55.  Dubuque would get late scores as Josephine Thomas drained a "3" from the right wing area with 3:01 left and a short jumper in the lane by Mathias with 1:48 left had the deficit back down to twenty at 80-60 and a drive and finish by Tabria Thomas with 1:12 left along with a Bailey lay-up with :11 left helped but Northwestern took a sizable win going into the holiday break with an 81-64 victory. 

I couldn't help but kid Northwestern's Kahl afterward that maybe he and his staff should wear their ugly Christmas sweaters for every outing as I remarked that his team just looked loose and looked like it was having fun today.  He laughed and agreed and added that it was definitely a good win to take into the holiday break before they delve into the meat of the UMAC schedule after the first of the year.  Perhaps the only "downer" from this outing was that the Eagles had 26 turnovers compared to Dubuque's 18 on this day but everything else they did seemed to negate that negative stat.  Northwestern had a 37-33 edge on the glass on this day - largely in part to the fabulous outing that Landers had with her "double-double" of 13 points and 10 rebounds.  The Eagles shot a solid 25-50 from FG range for a straight 50% and weren't too shabby from downtown either going 11-28 for 39.3%  Meanwhile, it was just a miserable day for the Spartans as they went 23-71 from FG range for 32.4% and only 5-20 from behind the arc for 25%.  Another stat that may have been overlooked on this day:  Landers also swatted eight shots away as well.  Indeed, it was an incredibly balanced scoring attack for the Eagles as Lund, doing a lot of damage from downtown, led the way with her 21 points and DeKam wasn't far behind with 19 points.  Landers, of course, had the "double-double" of 13 points and 10 rebounds (along with those eight blocked shots) and Sauve tallied 10 points on this day.  Dubuque was led by Kelley's 13 points while Bailey had 10 points.