Sharp shooting pushes Northwestern into women's basketball semifinal

Sharp shooting pushes Northwestern into women's basketball semifinal

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ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball tournament started off Monday with a tale of two teams as perennial playoff contender No. 4 University of Northwestern hosted a No. 5 North Central University squad that was playing in its first-ever conference tournament. 

The Eagles' postseason experience paid dividends as they compiled a spectacular shooting performance for an impressive 80-64 win in front of a lively crowd Monday evening.

| Tournament Site | Box Score | 

Thanks to a hot start from beyond the arc – the Eagles hit seven 3-pointers in the first half – the No. 4 seed was able to build significant distance early and finished shooting 50 percent from the field in the victory. Rio Landers also came up big scoring 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting to fuel the Eagles to a 42-23 lead at the half. The Eagles continued to build their lead en route to their 14th win of the season and fourth-straight. 

Landers led the scoring for the Eagles with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while senior star Amy Berglund contributed 13 points and Kelsea Lund and Brooklyn DeKam tallied double figures. Rams' senior Haleigh Filer closed out her career with an impressive game-high 28 points and eight rebounds. The Rams finish their impressive season with a 14-11 overall record. 

The No . 4 Eagles will now travel to face No. 1 University of Wisconsin-Superior Wednesday night in semifinal action at 7 p.m. in Superior, Wisconsin. The other game Wednesday will be another semifinal rematch between No. 2 Bethany Lutheran College and No.3 University of Minnesota Morris at 5:30 p.m. in Mankato, Minn.

Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Feb. 18
No. 4 Northwestern def. No. 5 North Central, 80-64 | Box Score | NCU Recap | UNW Recap |

Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Feb. 20
No. 4 Northwestern AT No. 1 Wisconsin-Superior; Superior, Wis., 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video |
No. 3 Minnesota Morris AT No. 2 Bethany Lutheran; Mankato, Minn., 5:30 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Video |

Championship – Saturday, Feb. 23
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed; Location and time TBD
 

Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $10; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $5; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
 
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Women’s Basketball page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.