The Northland International University women’s basketball
team ended a long drought in style this weekend, capturing consecutive
victories against regional opponents in the NCCAA II Midwest Tip-off Tournament
hosted at Northland.
On Thursday night, the Lady Pioneers used defensive pressure
and a great second half start to defeat Lincoln Christian University (Lincoln,
Illinois) 60–44. Northland forced twenty-six turnovers and stretched an eleven point halftime
lead to twenty-eight points behind a 19–2 start that put the game out of reach. Sophomore
guard Kate Matthai (Augusta, Georgia) led the home team with twenty-three points, twelve rebounds,
six assists, and six steals. Freshman point guard Allie Riegel (Laramie, Wyoming)
added fourteen points, five rebounds, six assists, and five steals while senior guard
Brooke Byard (Hutcheson, Kansas) contributed fourteen points, four rebounds, and three steals.
“We were obviously pleased to get the win, especially at
home,” said head coach Paul Whitt. “It has been a long time. But honestly, we
have played well enough to win the past two games, but a couple of things here
and there didn’t go as we wanted, and we ended up on the wrong side of the
score. Our focus coming in with this young team is to control what we control—effort, attitude and focus—and the results will come. This is a young hungry
team with a lot of potential. The more they play together, the better they will
get. Lincoln has a very good team, and they will be even better in February
when we will likely see them again, so I’m thankful for the win.”
On Saturday afternoon, Northland made some necessary
adjustments to find a way to capture their second victory of the young season,
defeating Kuyper College (Grand Rapids, Michigan) 55–42. The Lady Pioneers couldn’t
connect from outside with any consistency in the first half, shooting a season
low 17 percent from the field en route to a 19–18 halftime lead. However, a much more
aggressive offensive plan against the Kuyper zone defense assisted
in raising their shooting percentage, providing second chance shots and
opportunities at the free throw line.
Whitt commented: “I give credit to
Kuyper for staying with what was working, but I was pleased with the shots we
were getting. We just couldn’t get anything to fall. At halftime we emphasized
not settling for the first shot, but see if we could get the best shot. We moved
it better and got our high post more active. Once the ball started going inside,
more things opened up, and we got easier looks and to the free throw line. We
also had one of our better offensive rebounding efforts in a few years. We’re
not a tall team, so that is the result of effort and hustle.”
Matthai led Northland again with twenty points, eight rebounds,
and four steals. Riegel contributed seventeen points, four rebounds, four steals, and
two blocks. Sophomore Chelsea Goodreau (L’Anse, Michigan) scored nine points off the
bench, and sophomore Rebecca Newton (Kennesaw, Georgia) had a game high fourteen rebounds.
“Kate and Allie are fun to watch, but today, it took a lot
of other contributions,” Whitt added. “C.J. [Goodreau] played so confidently off
of the bench, and gave us a spark. She has played good defense all year, so it
was good to see her add offensively. Becca was great on the boards and added a
few points. She’s still working to get into basketball mode after a long,
successful soccer season, so I’m not worried about her. And Amy [Buhrow]
provides a spark of intensity that contributes in ways that don’t show up in
the box score. With a little more practice and chemistry, this team could
surprise some people.”
Northland is now off for Christmas break before returning to
campus for practice January 9 and traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the AG Credit
Union Classic January 12–14.