Thief River Falls, MN - The Northland women's basketball team advanced to the NJCAA Division III Basketball Championship with wins over Central Lakes and Hibbing in the Region 13B Tournament held Saturday, Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1 in Thief River Falls. The Region 13B championship is Northland's ninth in the last 11 years. 

The top-seeded Pioneers opened the four-team regional with a 74-52 win over Central Lakes in the early game Saturday. The Pioneers led by seven after one quarter of play and added to their lead in each of the following three quarters. Central Lakes limited Northland's leading scorer, Carly Mekash, to just 12 points, but the Pioneers responded with strong perimeter shooting. Janie Wunderlich scored 24 points, including a 4-for-11 showing from beyond the arc. Emma Waling also had big day from the perimeter, going 4-for-5, in three pointers. 

Sunday's opponent was originally expected to be second-seeded Rainy River. The Voyageurs and Pioneers finished the regular season with identical 13-1 division records and, for the third consecutive season, a coin flip was used to determine the region tournament host. 

Hibbing, the reigning Region 13B champions, were not expected to make it back to the championship game. They entered the tournament seeded third after dropping all four games they played against top-seeded Northland and second-seeded Rainy River. Hibbing's regular season losses to Rainy River were relatively close, an 81-75 overtime setback in International Falls, and a 75-64 loss in Hibbing. Saturday, the teams were even through one quarter. Rainy River led by two at the break, before Hibbing pulled away in the second half for a 78-61 win. 

Sunday, Northland never gave Hibbing a chance to get comfortable.The Pioneers led 18-7 after one quarter of play and the lead ballooned to 22 points at the half. Hibbing was unable to gain any ground in the second half as Northland cruised to the 24-point win. 

Mekash had another monster game for the Pioneers with 33 points and 10 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the tournament after finishing Saturday's game with 12 points and 14 boards. For her efforts, she was named the Region 13B Player of the Year. 

Macy Skyberg added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Pioneers, and Wunderlich scored 16 points with eight rebounds. 
 

Central Lakes at Northland
February 29, 2020

 

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Central Lakes	8	11	20	13	52
Northland	15	20	24	15	74

  

Central Lakes

PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
STARTERS
1 - Haley Youngbauer	40	2-16	2-5	0-0	3	4	7	0	0	0	6	0	6
4 - Lillee Hardee	40	6-11	3-6	3-4	0	4	4	1	1	0	5	4	18
11 - Paige Wallevand	40	3-10	0-0	3-6	2	4	6	2	3	1	2	1	9
15 - Maggi Fellerman	33	5-10	1-3	4-6	2	7	9	7	1	2	5	3	15
45 - Kali Mammenga	29	1-4	0-2	2-2	1	4	5	2	0	0	3	4	4
RESERVES
3 - Megan Lanhart	18	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	0
TM - Team					0	3	3				0	0
TOTALS		17-51	6-16	12-18	8	27	35	13	5	3	22	13	52
		33.3%	37.5%	66.7%

Northland

PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
STARTERS
4 - Macy Skyberg	32	4-12	0-1	2-4	4	4	8	6	0	0	1	2	10
15 - Janie Wunderlich	39	9-18	4-11	2-2	1	4	5	5	2	0	6	2	24
21 - Emma Duden	23	2-10	2-7	0-0	0	2	2	1	1	0	1	3	6
23 - Bailey Greene	25	1-3	1-2	1-2	1	2	3	1	1	0	3	3	4
41 - Carly Mekash	29	5-10	0-1	2-2	5	9	14	5	1	0	3	1	12
RESERVES
3 - Emma Waling	27	4-8	4-5	0-0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	12
10 - Alex Syverson	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
14 - Holly Steer	22	2-5	2-5	0-0	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	5	6
TM - Team					2	2	4				1	0
TOTALS		27-67	13-32	7-10	14	29	43	19	5	0	15	16	74
		40.3%	40.6%	70.0%

 

Hibbing at Northland
March 1, 2020

 

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Hibbing	7	14	18	13	52
Northland	18	25	20	13	76

 

Hibbing

PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
STARTERS
1 - Shayler Lislegard	27	0-5	0-2	1-4	2	3	5	2	1	0	2	4	1
3 - Bailey Roscoe	35	2-10	1-4	6-8	0	2	2	1	0	0	5	2	11
12 - Alexis Desjarlait	37	4-16	1-9	0-0	3	8	11	3	1	1	5	4	9
24 - Amaiyah Robinson	15	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	2
30 - Klaryssa Whelan	27	6-8	1-1	2-3	2	3	5	1	2	0	4	3	15
RESERVES
10 - Madeline Mann	14	2-4	1-2	0-0	1	0	1	0	2	0	3	2	5
20 - Athena Dunham	24	1-5	0-1	2-3	3	0	3	0	0	0	1	2	4
22 - Paige Romberg	12	1-3	1-2	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	3	0	3
32 - Savannah Deragon	9	1-3	0-2	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
TM - Team					1	1	2				0	0
TOTALS		18-56	5-24	11-18	13	18	31	8	7	1	23	20	52
		32.1%	20.8%	61.1%

Northland

PLAYER	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
STARTERS
4 - Macy Skyberg	35	8-17	0-1	1-2	3	5	8	3	1	0	4	3	17
15 - Janie Wunderlich	37	7-14	1-6	1-2	2	6	8	5	3	0	7	0	16
21 - Emma Duden	25	0-5	0-2	2-4	2	5	7	1	2	1	4	4	2
23 - Bailey Greene	31	0-3	0-3	0-0	0	3	3	3	0	0	1	2	0
41 - Carly Mekash	31	13-14	1-1	6-7	3	7	10	5	1	1	1	1	33
RESERVES
3 - Emma Waling	24	2-6	1-3	0-0	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	2	5
10 - Alex Syverson	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14 - Holly Steer	14	1-1	1-1	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	3	3
TM - Team					1	0	1				0	0
TOTALS		31-60	4-17	10-15	13	27	40	18	8	2	20	15	76
		51.7%	23.5%	66.7%