No. 1 North Central, No. 3 Bethany Lutheran win to set up UMAC women's basketball title game

No. 1 North Central, No. 3 Bethany Lutheran win to set up UMAC women's basketball title game

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ST. PAUL, Minn.---The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) women’s basketball tournament semifinal round saw two dominant performances Saturday to set up a conference tournament championship game between No. 1 North Central University and No. 3 Bethany Lutheran College Monday evening. 
 
The night opened with an impressive 67-50 win by No. 3 Bethany Lutheran over No. 2 University of Northwestern before No. 1 North Central cruised to a 76-53 victory over No. 4 University of Minnesota Morris.

The No. 3 Vikings will head to the No. 1 Rams for the UMAC tournament championship game at 7 p.m. Monday in Minneapolis. This will be the second meeting between the two squads in the last week. 

Tournament Championship Page | Bracket |

No. 1 North Central def. No. 4 Minnesota Morris, 76-53 | Box Score | 
No. 1 North Central opened up a big lead early – outscoring No. 4 Minnesota Morris 26-11 in the opneing quarter – before curising to its second-ever program UMAC tournament win to advance to its first championship game.
  • North Central shot over 44 percent from the field and scored 36 points in the paint. Defensively, the Rams held the Cougars to just over 30 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc.
  • The Rams got a pair of double-doubles from juniors Naomi Hagstrom and Emily DiGiorgio. Hagstrom tallied a game-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds, while DiGiorgio recorded 14 points and grabbed 12 boards. Kadija Conteh also scored 20 points.
  • Jadyn Sondrol led the Cougars in scoring with 14 points, while Malory Anderson recorded a 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. 

No. 3 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 2 Northwestern, 67-50 | Box Score |
No. 3 Bethany Lutheran will make its fourth-straight UMAC tourney championship game appearance after outscoring the Eagles 24-11 in the second quarter to build a big lead early in taking down No. 2 Northwestern.
  • The Vikings shot an impressive 54 percent from the field while holding the Eagles to 34 percent. They also maintained a 45-19 advantage on the glass and scored 19 points from the bench. 
  • Hanna Geistfeld led the Vikings with a 25-point, 13-rebound double-double and added a game-high six assists. Rookie Sarah Kottke came off the bench for 14 points on a 5-of-9 performance from the field. 
  • Courtney Schmidt led the Eagles with 16 points, while Megan Roberts added 11 points and nine rebounds to lead the offense. 

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
**Game times vary due to institutional COVID-19 protocols and schools hosting multiple games. 
Quarterfinal Round – Thursday, March 4
  • No. 1 North Central def. No. 8 Crown, 87-54 | Box Score | 
  • No. 2 Northwestern def. No. 7 St. Scholastica, 76-54 | Box Score |
  • No. 3 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 6 Martin Luther, 75-64 | Box Score |
  • No. 4 Minnesota Morris def. No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior, 73-67 | Box Score |
 
Semifinal Round – Saturday, March 6
  • No. 4 Minnesota Morris AT No. 1 North Central, 76-53 | Box Score |
  • No. 3 Bethany Lutheran def. No. 2 Northwestern, 67-50 | Box Score |
 
Championship – Monday, March 8  
SPECTATORS
Spectators will only be allowed at the discretion of each institution. | UMAC Institutional Spectator Policies |
 
Tournament Championship Page