DE PERE - St. Norbert College pulled away in the second quarter and went on to claim a 72-47 win over Edgewood College in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament semifinal game on Connie Tilley Court at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
 
The Green Knights (23-3) will host Wisconsin Lutheran College (19-7) in the NACC Tournament championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday in De Pere.
 
St. Norbert got off to a relatively slow start, missing four of its first five shots before Chloe Gruszynski and Natalie Cerrato connected on a pair of 3-pointers for an 8-5 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter. St. Norbert trailed 11-10 late in the period until Kaycee Gierczak scored with 10 seconds left and Emma Morrisey stole the ensuing inbounds pass with her layup putting the Green Knights up 14-11 at the break.
 
That flurry ignited a 13-0 run, with St. Norbert scoring the first nine points of the second quarter. Gruszynski canned a trey, while Gierczak then split a pair of free throws. Natalie Cerrato swished a 3 and Gierczak's layup put St. Norbert ahead 23-11 with 7:59 left in the second quarter. After an Edgewood trey from Eden Bonser, Gruszynski connected again on a triple and the Green Knights never saw their lead dip under double digits the rest of the way. St. Norbert led 33-20 at halftime.
 
Things escalated quickly to open the third quarter, with St. Norbert going on an 8-0 run thanks to four consecutive baskets by Gierczak to open a 41-20 lead with 7:21 left in the period. Casey Jepson's putback floater in the paint put the Green Knights ahead 49-31 going into the final 10 minutes.
 
Edgewood (15-12) would get to within 13 points twice, the last time at 55-42 with 7:15 left, but another 8-0 run by the Green Knights put the game away. Olivia DeCleene and Cerrato hit 3-pointers and DeCleene cashed in a jumper for a 63-42 lead with 4:59 remaining.
 
St. Norbert shot 42 percent from the floor, making 29 of 69 field-goal attempts. The Green Knights, who were 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the three-point arc, committed just five turnovers. Gierczak led the Green Knights with 23 points, while Gruszynski added 11 points. DeCleene had a hardway double-double, dishing out 11 assists with 10 rebounds while scoring five points. Cerrato and Morrisey each had nine points.
 
Edgewood shot 34.6 percent (18-for-52) from the floor and committed 23 turnovers. Eden Bonser came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 18 points, while Paige Banks had 13 points. Vivian Guerrero pulled down 16 rebounds.