MILWAUKEE - In a game that would determine the final unbeaten team in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference women's basketball race, St. Norbert College dropped a hard-fought 50-47 decision to Wisconsin Lutheran College at the Recreation Complex.
The Green Knights dropped to 8-5 overall and 5-1 in the NACC, while the Warriors, ranked No. 23 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, remained unblemished at 10-0, 6-0.
St. Norbert held a 35-34 lead early in the fourth quarter after an
Emma Morrisey 3-pointer, but Wisconsin Lutheran would then go on a decisive 8-0 run to take a 42-35 lead with 6:24 to go. The Green Knights would get to within three points on two occasions but would get no closer than that until a
Casey Jepson 3-pointer cut the deficit to 46-44 with 26 seconds left. Wisconsin Lutheran's Kaitlyn Shadoski made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left, but Morrisey canned another trey with 11 seconds to go to make it 48-47. The Warriors' Kalies Birkholz then made two free throws with 9 seconds left for a three-point lead, and St. Norbert's attempted triple to try and force overtime was off the mark as time expired.
The Green Knights and Warriors engaged in a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the visitor lead 15-12 after the first 10 minutes. Both teams would struggle to score in the second period, with St. Norbert closing the frame on a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by Morrisey and a
Jessica Boerner hoop for a 24-20 halftime lead.
St. Norbert held the lead through most of the third quarter, holding a 30-26 edge with 3:15 left in the period. Wisconsin Lutheran then went on an 8-2 run the rest of the stanza to take a 34-32 lead into the final 10 minutes of action.
St. Norbert shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor but outrebounded the Warriors 40-37. Morrisey and
Kaycee Gierczak had 11 points apiece to lead the Green Knights, with Gierczak adding nine rebounds.
Wisconsin Lutheran shot 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the floor and finished the game 11-for-12 at the free-throw line. Shadoski led the Warriors with 17 points, while Jenna Mace added 12 points.
