DWU women bested by Northwestern comeback on the road
Dec. 6—ORANGE CITY, Iowa. — For the second straight game, the Dakota Wesleyan women's basketball team held a lead through three quarters.
However, unlike Saturday's victory, the Tigers were bested by a Northwestern (Iowa) comeback, as they fell to the Red Raiders 69-67 on Wednesday night at the Bultman Center.
DWU led the game with 64-56 with 2:24 remaining in the game but allowed the Raiders' Maddie Jones made a pair of decisive free throws with 4 seconds left to win the game.
A slow-moving opening quarter yielded to a 9-4 Red Raiders run to give them a 17-11 lead going into the second. The Tigers answered back, tying it at 20 on a Shalayne Nagel three-pointer off an assist from Lacey Sprakel. Nagel was DWU's leading scorer, finishing with 18 points off the bench. She also collected eight rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Both teams kept within striking distance throughout the remainder of the half, as Mya Wilson converted a layup at the halftime buzzer right after Northwestern's Jones made one of her own. DWU opened up the largest lead of the night for either side to begin the fourth quarter, going up by eight with 7:55 to go on three straight Rylee Rosenquist baskets. The lead returned to eight points later in the fourth after Isabel Ihnen converted a pair of free throws.
Northwestern (7-3, 4-2 GPAC) finished the game on a 13-3 run, as DWU ran into foul trouble late. Jones scored the final six points of the game for the Red Raiders, all at the foul line, finishing the night with 17 points on only 3-of-11 shooting with six assists, four rebounds, and two steals. She was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. Molly Schany led all players with 20 points. The Red Raiders shot 46.2% from the field for the game.
Three starters from DWU reached double-figure in the scoring column. Isabel Ihnen missed a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds. Emma Yost also had 11 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Rosenquist collected 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists. The Tigers forced Northwestern to turn the ball over 19 times in the game, scoring 17 points off of them. DWU shot 38% from the field.
DWU (5-3, 4-2 GPAC) returns home to the Corn Palace on Saturday, Dec. 9 to face GPAC rival Mount Marty. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
