By: Scott DCamp, Northland Communications
Rockford, Ill. - It was a tale of two halves Friday night as a pair of MCAC programs squared off for the NJCAA Division III National Championship in women's basketball at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Ill. Western Tech defeated Northland 69-60 to win the the NJCAA Division III championship.
Both teams played Friday night's championship game with tired legs after each team played a semifinal game earlier in the day. Fourth seeded Northland defeated eighth seeded Cedar Valley 50-49 in the day's first semifinal. Two hours later, sixth seeded Western Tech defeated second seeded Rock Valley 83-74.
Northland dominated the first half of Friday night's championship game, with a 15-8 lead after one quarter that ballooned to a 36-27 halftime advantage.
Down by nine at the break, Western Tech got things going in the third quarter. The Cavaliers opened the second half on a 12-1 run that gave them their frist lead, 38-37, with 6:48 left in the third quarter. The Cavaliers continued to dominate in the third, finishing the quarter on a 12-6 run to take a 50-43 lead into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was all about the long ball for Western Tech, with the Cavaliers outscoring the Pioneers 19-17 in the quarter on the strength of four three-point buckets.
Northland got to within five points of Western Tech on two occasions and four points on another occasion, but each time Western Tech would answer with a three-point bucket to push the Cavalier lead back to three possessions.
Lindsey Murphy and Caitlin Young combined to score seven of Western Tech's nine three-point buckets. Murphy scored 15 points and Young scored 14 for the Cavaliers.
Macy Skyberg, 14 points, and
Carly Mekash, 12 points, were the only Pioneers in double figures.
This was Northland's third national championship game appearance. In 2014, Northland defeated Rock Valley 69-60 to win the Division III national championship. In 2016, the Pioneers fell to Roxbury 61-57 in the championship game.
(6) Western Tech at (4) Northland
69
60
(6) Western Tech
| PLAYER |
MIN |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
OREB |
DREB |
REB |
AST |
STL |
BLK |
TO |
PF |
PTS |
| STARTERS |
|
| 2 - Lindsey Murphey |
28:51 |
5-11 |
3-7 |
2-2 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
15 |
| 3 - Macy Mau |
28:22 |
3-12 |
1-7 |
2-3 |
2 |
7 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
| 5 - Makenna Gabel |
31:37 |
4-10 |
0-3 |
1-2 |
2 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
9 |
| 10 - Lexi Schmidtknecht |
30:18 |
3-11 |
1-6 |
2-2 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
| 24 - Caitlin Young |
31:43 |
4-9 |
4-7 |
2-2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
| RESERVES |
|
| 13 - Madalyn Drury |
13:04 |
0-5 |
0-4 |
1-2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
| 14 - Callie Bever |
8:22 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| 23 - Jaclyn Freit |
27:43 |
4-6 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
8 |
| TOTALS |
|
25-67 |
9-34 |
10-13 |
14 |
29 |
43 |
12 |
10 |
2 |
14 |
16 |
69 |
|
|
37.3% |
26.5% |
76.9% |
|
(4) Northland
| PLAYER |
MIN |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
OREB |
DREB |
REB |
AST |
STL |
BLK |
TO |
PF |
PTS |
| STARTERS |
|
| 4 - Macy Skyberg |
31:20 |
5-13 |
0-2 |
4-6 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
14 |
| 15 - Janie Wunderlich |
39:57 |
3-16 |
1-9 |
2-2 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
| 21 - Emma Duden |
32:01 |
4-10 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
| 23 - Bailey Greene |
28:28 |
1-5 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| 41 - Carly Mekash |
38:52 |
4-12 |
0-2 |
4-4 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
| RESERVES |
|
| 3 - Emma Waling |
15:49 |
3-4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
| 14 - Holly Steer |
13:33 |
3-6 |
2-4 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
| TOTALS |
|
23-66 |
3-18 |
11-14 |
14 |
29 |
43 |
11 |
10 |
0 |
15 |
15 |
60 |
|
|
34.8% |
16.7% |
78.6% |
