Milwaukee, WI - The Northland College Lumberjills used a big first half and tough full court defensive pressure to beat the Mount Mary Blue Angels 93-64 on Friday in Milwaukee.  The win gives the Lumberjills a 1-0 record to start the season.  Sophomore Bianca Avalos led Northland with 17 points and 5 steals, and fellow classmate Lindsay Bressette added 15 points.  "We worked as a team and this was a good starting point for us," commented Avalos. 

The Lumberjills forced 44 Blue Angel turnovers and outscored them in 3 of the 4 quarters.  "We wanted to push the tempo of the game and not let up on our defensive pressure," said Bressette.  Freshman Alex Espinoza added 12 points and 4 steals and Junior Sarah Houle added 10 points for Northland. 
 
Despite getting in foul trouble early in the 1st quarter and giving the Blue Angels many opportunities from the charity stripe, the Lumberjills came out of the quarter with a 27-17 lead.  Northland's full court pressure continued to give Mount Mary troubles in the 2nd quarter and the Lumberjills forced 23 first half turnovers.  Northland outscored the Blue Angels 26-11 in the 2nd quarter and went into halftime up 53-20. 
 
The Lumberjills came out flat in the 3rd quarter and allowed Mount Mary to get into the bonus early on in the quarter.  This helped Mount Mary's Erica Williams get going and the Blue Angels outscored Northland 21-18 in the 3rd quarter.  Northland came out focused in the 4th quarter and wore down the Blue Angels with their defensive pressure and depth, led by key steals from Espinoza and fellow Freshman Ashley Lopez  The Lumberjills outscored the Blue Angels 22-15 in the final quarter.  Williams finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Angels. The Lumberjills shared the ball well and had 19 assists on their 36 buckets.  

Northland will face the Alverno College Inferno at Mount Mary on Saturday.  Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00pm.