Upset Bid Falls Just Short against No. 15 Northwestern
Orange City, IA – The Hastings College women’s basketball team hung in with NAIA No. 15 Northwestern only to lose 58-53 on Saturday afternoon.
Orange City, IA – The Hastings College women's basketball team hung in with NAIA No. 15 Northwestern only to lose 58-53 on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Broncos opened up a quick lead as Katharine Hamburger opened the game with a three and then Allison Bauer backed that up with a three of her own. After the Raiders got on the board with a three from Payton Beckman, Hastings got back-to-back buckets from Hamburger and Kiernan Paulk to increase the lead to 10-3.
After one period, HC would hold a 14-8 lead and early in the second got another three from Bauer to go up 17-9 with 6:48 to go in the half. Then Northwestern would counter with 14-0 run over the next 6:30 to take a 23-17 lead before Alyssa Baker got a layup to go to end the run. The Raiders hit a three by Beckman at the buzzer and led by seven at the break.
The teams then played a really even second half as NWIC would eventually hold a 51-41 lead before Paulk hit two free throws to make it an eight point game. Northwestern answered right back with a three from Hali Anderson but Dawson Knode worked her way to the hoop for the layup to make it 54-45 as Jina Douglas called a timeout with 3:50 to go in the game.
HC got a turnover on the Miriam Miller steal as Bauer made a layup as Hastings trailed 54-47 with 3:23 left to play. The teams would then trade multiple empty possessions until Paulk would get fouled and made both from the charity stripe to make it a five point game with 2:02 to play. On the ensuing possession, Lexie Van Kekerix was open as she drained a three to make it 57-49 with 1:28 to play.
Hastings kept fighting getting a Paulk layup and then a Raider turnover to keep the Lady Broncos in the game. HC then crashed the offensive boards getting three straight boards before Bauer would eventually get fouled. She calmly made both as Hastings trailed 57-53 with :18 left in the game. Unfortunately, Hastings would be unable to find another bucket as its upset bid came up five points short.
Bauer led Hastings with 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting but was 3-for-4 from downtown. Hamburger finished with 12 points while Baker and Paulk each had eight points.
The Lady Broncos finished the game shooting just 29 percent (18-for-62) while Northwestern shot 35.5 percent (22-for-62). Hastings did get out rebounded 51-to-36 but what kept them in the game was the 21 points off turnovers compared to just 11 for the Raiders. HC forced 20 turnovers while turning it over just 13 times.
Hastings falls to 8-8 (4-6) on the year and will be back in action Wednesday Jan. 11 as Morningside comes to town with tipoff set for 6:00 pm inside Lynn Farrell Arena.
