UMAC Game of the Week: Minnesota Morris at Northwestern - Women's Basketball
The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Game of the Week is a feature that takes place each week throughout the conference portion of the season with one contest being selected and highlighted as the UMAC Game of the Week.
This week’s UMAC Game of the Week will be played on Friday, February 20 at the University of Northwestern as the Eagles host the University of Minnesota Morris in a women’s basketball contest that will play a part in determining who earns the 2014-2015 UMAC Women’s Basketball regular season title. With just two games remaining in the regular season for each team, one game separates the Cougars (11-1 UMAC) and the Eagles (10-2 UMAC) at the top of the league standings heading into the final weekend of competition.
About the Eagles
Northwestern enters Friday’s game needing a win to stay in contention for a share of the UMAC regular season championship. A win would also solidify home court advantage for next week’s UMAC Tournament first round, but the Eagles have a 15-point loss from their visit to Morris on January 31 staring them in the face. Northwestern made just 14 baskets that afternoon, a statistic that will have to improve if the Eagles were to win this week.
Senior scorer Chanel Madson has been the team’s leading scorer all season long, and at 1,369 career points, is on pace to solidify her place among the Eagles’ top 10 scorers. Madson’s 14.1 points per game rank third among UMAC leaders, while her 41.8 three-point percentage in league contests is second. While UNW doesn’t have any other double-digit scorers, head coach Aaron Kahl does have four other players that average between eight and nine points per game. One of those players is Regan Cooper, the post who is third in the conference with an 8.8 rebounds-per-game average.
Something to watch for on Friday will be the rate at which Northwestern scores. UNW has won all of the UMAC games this season in which the Eagles scored more than 52 points, while the two losses in 2015 have come when they’ve scored 52 or less.
About the Cougars
Minnesota Morris will be playing for their sixth straight regular season UMAC Championship this weekend. Currently they hold a one game lead over Northwestern, whom they do battle with on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. The Cougars can clinch the title outright with a win over the Eagles. If not, a win over North Central the following day would clinch at least a share of the title. Morris will be looking to wrap up the UMAC on Friday and win over Northwestern in order to secure the number one seed in the UMAC Tournament. If the two teams tie Northwestern holds the edge in a tiebreaker thanks to a better conference record on the road.
The last time these two teams met the Cougars won 62-47, pulling away from the Eagles in the second half. The UMM defense stole the show, forcing 25 turnovers and turning them into 30 points. Tori Holt led the team with 17 points offensively.
Morris currently leads the conference in points per game with 70.1; the Eagles are second averaging 64.4 per contest. The two teams are giving up about 60 points per game defensively.
Game Notes
- Morris owns the upper hand in the all-time, head-to-head matchup between the two teams by a 22-17 count. Each team has won twice in the last four meetings.
- Kendra Wycoff has four 20 point games over the Cougars last seven outings. Wycoff is now second all-time in UMAC history in made three point field goals with 261. She needs 22 more made field goals to crack the top ten in UMAC history.
- Jacki Smith’s 86 blocks this season is easily a Northwestern program record, as are her 201 career swats. Smith ranks fifth nationwide in blocked shots per game (4.10) and is one of 17 players in Division III to post a triple-double this year.
- Connor Lewis has a 2.64 assist-to-turnover ratio and averages 2.9 assists per game for the Cougars. She is .1 assists per game short of qualifying for the national assist-to-turnover rankings.
- As a team, UNW ranks eighth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (32).
- The Cougar defense is forcing 19.1 turnovers per contest, thanks to 8.7 steals per game.
Northwestern Recap |
Minnesota Morris Recap |
Final Score: UNW 64, UMM 58
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