The women’s basketball team traveled to Mitchell, S.D., last Wednesday night and was upset by the Tigers of Dakota Wesleyan. The final score was 97-76, and the Raiders dropped to 14-3 in the GPAC, 22-3 overall.
The Raiders got off to a slow start, and Dakota Wesleyan went on a 10-4 run almost four minutes into the game. NW battled back a couple minutes later to tie the game up at 13-13, but Dakota Wesleyan answered that with a 6-0 run of its own with 13 minutes left in the half. The Raiders fought back again and cut the lead to 24-22 with nine minutes left, but the Tigers quickly answered with another 14-6 run to improve their lead to 38-28. Dakota Wesleyan then closed the half on an 11-4 run to increase their lead even further to 49-33 at half.
The Tigers picked up right where they left off after the half and improved their lead to 61-41 five minutes into the second half. They never looked back from there, and increased their lead to as much as 75-50 with nine minutes left in the game. The Raiders went on an 11-4 run with five minutes left but never got any closer.
The Raiders shot almost 42 percent from the field and were led on the scoring line by junior Karen Hutson, who scored 17 points. Senior Alli Engebretson added 13 points and senior Kenzie Small added an additional 11 points. Engebretson also led the team with five rebounds.
Doane no match for Raiders’ second half
The women’s basketball team rolled last Saturday and defeated the Doane Tigers 77-56 in the GPAC match up at the Bultman Center. The Raiders dominated the season series against Doane and improved to 14-2 in the GPAC and 22-2 overall.
Northwestern went back and forth with Doane for most of the first half until the Raiders took a six-point lead with less than five minutes left in the first half. The Raiders traded a few baskets with Doane after that and ended up closing the first half with a 31-24 lead.
Northwestern came out of halftime on fire and blew the game open on an 18-3 run seven minutes into the first half. During that run, the Raiders made multiple defensive stands and Doane was held to zero field goals during the run. Six different NW players scored during that run, and they safely controlled the rest of the game.
Small had 21 points to lead a quartet of Raiders scorers. Senior Samantha Kleinsasser scored 19 points and dominated the boards. She pulled down eight rebounds, and barely missed posting her ninth double-double of the season. Engebretson added 15 points, and Hutson also added 12 points.
“We played really consistent on both ends of the floor,” Hutson said.
Hutson said head coach Chris Yaw was extremely happy about their performance on Saturday and had few negative comments to say to them after the game.
The Raiders will travel to Seward, Neb., on Saturday to battle seventh-ranked Concordia at 2 p.m.