The Northwestern women’s basketball team split their last two games, winning at home Wednesday night against Mount Marty and losing on the road on Nov. 22 against Morningside.
The Raiders defeated the Lancers of Mount Marty 63-57 at the Bultman Center. Junior forward Kendra De Jong led the Raiders with 23 points on 11-18 shooting, while senior guard Kami Kuhlmann added 18 points and six assists, going 3-7 from beyond the arc.
Sophomore Sam Kleinsasser was also a scoring presence in the post, putting in 14 points of her own.
The first half was low-scoring, as NW went to the locker room leading 27-24. Late in the second, Mount Marty pulled to within four, but never got closer, as NW extended the lead to nine, 61-52, then held on for the win.
As a team, the Raiders won the rebounding battle substantially, beating Mount Marty 44-33. The Raiders also forced three more turnovers, 13-10.
NW looked to gain most of their points closer to the basket throughout the game, but still shot a respectable 36 percent from three-point land.
The Raiders improved to 5-4 overall and 2-2 in the GPAC.
NW fell to Morningside 68-52 on Nov. 22 in Sioux City. At the time, the matchup was between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation. NW has since been knocked out of the top 25 and Morningside has dropped to No. 13.
The Mustangs controlled much of the second half in a back-and-forth game and secured the win by pulling away late on an 8-1 run to win.
Kuhlmann led the Raiders with 15 points, including 2-6 from three-point range. De Jong led the Raiders with nine rebounds.
“Overall it was a battle, like it usually is when you play Morningside,” De Jong said. “In the second half when they hit some big threes, and we had unanswered points. They did a good job of attacking at the end of the game, knowing a lot of us were in foul trouble.”
De Jong and sophomore Alli Dunkelberger had to finish the game on the bench after reaching their limit in fouls.
NW out-rebounded Morningside 38-31, but the Raiders shot a meager seven free throws as a team, while the Mustangs went to the line 31 times, making 27 of those attempts. NW also struggled from the three-point line, making just 6 of 22 in a game that was mostly a battle of defenses.
“We never gave up,” Kuhlmann said. “We never really felt like we were behind, and I felt like we competed very well. I think a lot of what hurt us is the amount of turnovers we had. On defense, they did a good job of pressuring us. They play an in-your-face defense that we didn’t handle well at times.”
NW was forced into 31 turnovers and managed only 15 assists. Morningside coughed the ball up only 16 times.
The Raiders next game is Saturday against Nebraska Wesleyan, and it will be played in Lincoln, Neb.
