LISLE, Ill. - St. Norbert College locked in its seeding for the upcoming Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament with a 57-47 win over Benedictine University at Rice Center.
The Green Knights (16-9, 13-3 NACC) closed out the regular season by securing the No. 2 seeding for the NACC Tournament and will host a quarterfinal against an opponent to be determined at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center in De Pere.
St. Norbert got off to a good start, jumping out to an early 7-2 lead on a 3-pointer from
Macey Mercer and a pair of baskets by
Taylor Thiry. The Green Knights closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run on hoops by Thiry,
Chloe Gruszynski and Thiry for a 17-8 lead. Thiry then scored the last six points of the second quarter to hold off a Benedictine charge for a 29-25 halftime lead.
Benedictine would eventually take a 31-29 lead just over three minutes into the third quarter, but the Green Knights went on a quick 5-0 run on a jumper and fastbreak 3-pointer by
Casey Jepson. The score was tied for the final time with a 36-36 score with 3:51 to go but a layup by Thiry and another 3-pointer by Jepson pushed St. Norbert ahead 41-36 with 2:40 left in the period.
Avery Bierowski's layup put St. Norbert ahead 45-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
St. Norbert would hold Benedictine scoreless for the first 6:25 of the fourth quarter but only had four points of its own, all from the hand of Gruszynski, for a 49-40 lead with 5:15 left. The Eagles would get to within four after a Jordan Carlquist 3-pointer made it 51-47 with 2:18 to go, but
Emma Morrisey's conventional three-point play with 1:05 left made it a three-possession game and sealed the win.
The Green Knights shot 47.1 percent (24-for-51) from the floor and held a 35-32 rebounding edge. Thiry led the Green Knights with 20 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field. Jepson came off the bench to add 15 points.
Benedictine shot 27.5 percent (14-for-51) from the floor and was 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Madelyn Koehler led the Eagles with 11 points.
