A tough loss on the road this week to the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers ended the regular season for the Northwestern Raiders women’s basketball team. The final score of the hotly contested game was 81-72.
The Raiders led for most of the first half by only a few points, but by halftime, the score was tied at 30-30. Moving into the second half of the game DWU went on a scoring run and the Raiders were unable to respond with enough points to change the outcome. The loss to DWU ended the Red Raiders’ two-game winning streak.
Going into the game, the Raiders were ranked 5th in the GPAC while DWU held the number two slot. Wednesday was the second time this season that NW has played DWU. In an earlier season matchup between the two teams, DWU came away with the victory in what was another close scoring game (78-75).
In the matchup on Feb. 15, the Raiders only shot 65 percent (11-for-17) from the freethrow line, while the Tigers were 92 percent (22-of-24) from the line. However, the Raiders did outrebound the host team 30-to-24.
Early in the first half junior Renee Maneman broke the single season assist record of 204 set by Miranda (Boekhout) Riediger back in the 2007-2008 season. Maneman ended the game with a total of 212 assists on the season.
Freshman Anna Kiel led NW with 20 points and six rebounds, sophomore Darbi Gustafson followed scoring 14, junior Paige Danner with 12 and sophomore Haley Birks with 11 points.
The loss to DWU now puts the Red Raiders at 18-10 for the regular season (10-10 in GPAC play). Next Wednesday, Feb. 22, the women’s team heads to the GPAC Quarterfinals as the fifth seed. The GPAC postseason tournament bracket will be announced Saturday afternoon, Feb. 18.
