Box Score MILWAUKEE – St. Norbert College couldn't survive a cold-shooting second half in a 51-43 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran College in the championship game of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament at the Recreation Complex.
Wisconsin Lutheran (23-1), ranked No. 20 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, earned the NACC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Tournament. St. Norbert saw its season end at 19-8, its most wins since a 20-win campaign in 2016-17.
St. Norbert was just 5-for-22 from the floor, good for 22.7 percent. The Green Knights were 2-for-10 from the field and 0-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc in the decisive fourth quarter.
The Green Knights and Warriors were tied 37-37 entering the fourth quarter, and St. Norbert took a two-point lead on a
Jessica Boerner basket with 9:17 left. Wisconsin Lutheran's Jenna Mace followed with 3-pointers at 8:14 and 6:34 to five the Warriors a 43-39 lead and swing momentum.
Kaycee Gierczak made a pair of free throws with 5:41 left to bring St. Norbert to within 44-41, but the Green Knights didn't score again until 17.6 seconds remained.
St. Norbert trailed 4-2 early before going on an 9-0 run to take an 11-4 lead. Boerner started the run with a basket, followed by a 3-pointer from
Olivia DeCleene.
Mary Cravillion followed with a basket and DeCleene cashed in another at the 3:57 mark of the first period to go up seven. The Warriors went on an 8-1 run to close the first quarter tied 12-12.
The Warriors took a three-point lead early in the second quarter before the Green Knights went on a 13-3 run.
Chloe Gruszynski, DeCleene and Cravillion drained 3s while Boerner had a pair of baskets during the run. Cravillion's trey put St. Norbert up 25-18 at the 4:51 mark. Gruszynski's layup with 1:23 left in the period put St. Norbert up 29-20, but the Warriors scored the last four points of the half to trail 29-24 at the break.
Wisconsin Lutheran scored the first seven points of the third quarter before a Cravillion 3-pointer put St. Norbert ahead 32-31 with 3:45 left. A Gruszynski layup at 3:13 put the Green Knights up 34-31. Another Cravillion triple gave St. Norbert a 37-36 lead with 55 seconds left in the quarter, with the quarter ending deadlocked 37-37.
St. Norbert shot 17-for-47 (36.2 percent) from the floor. Cravillion and Boerner led the Green Knights with 11 points apiece, while DeCleene added 10 points. Boerner also had 11 rebounds.
Wisconsin Lutheran shot 18-for-49 (36.7 percent) from the floor. Mace finished with 13 points, all in the second half. Sam Leisemann added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Warriors.
