Watertown, WI - The Northland College Lumberjills fell to the Maranatha Baptist University Sabercats 69-49 on Monday night in Watertown, WI.  The Jills were short-handed and only suited up 10 players for the contest.  It was the first contest of the season for the Sabercats and the second game in three days for the Jills.  Injuries have recently set the Lumberjills back and Monday's contest was no exception as Freshman Alex Espinoza went down with an ankle injury, leaving Northland only 9 healthy players by the end of the game. 
 
Lack of intensity was evident with the Jills early on as the Sabercats jumped out to a 6-0 lead until Junior Sarah Houle got NC on the board at 4:58 when she split a pair of free throws.  The Sabercats scored on their next two possession and the Jills struggled offensively all quarter until Freshman Miranda Wagner hit back to back buckets to bring NC within 5, 10-5.  After Wagner's buckets, NC had another scoreless stretch until Sophomore Aja Gregg scored inside.  The Sabercats were still productive offensively and lead 14-7 after the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, NC had a hard time stopping MBU point guard Callie Morrison who got the Sabercats offense rolling.  The Jills also continued to stall offensively and MBU extended their lead to 28-14 mid-way through the second quarter.  The Jills found some offense from Espinoza, Wagner and Houle to bring NC within 10, 30-20 toward the final seconds of the half.  Unfortunately the Jills gave up one more Sabercat basket, so MBU went into halftime up 12, 32-20.
 
In the second half, NC started to find some offense, but couldn't cut into the Sabercat lead as MBU continued to score.  The Jills struggled to contain Morrison and Kelsey Johnson hurt NC inside with points and offensive rebounds.  The Jills cut the lead down to 11 toward the end of the third quarter and it seemed like NC was finally clawing back into the game.  On the next possession, the Sabercats hit a 3-pointer to end the quarter up 14, 49-35. 
 
Freshman Sarah Dunbar had a nice pass to Wagner for a bucket to start the quarter, but that is as close as the Jills would get in the game.  Back up point guard Alex Espinoza badly sprained her ankle in the fourth quarter and fatigue set in for the rest of the NC team as MBU continued to roll to a 69-49 win. 
 
Wagner lead the Jills with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.  Johnson had 24 points and 18 points for the Sabercats and Morrison chipped in 18 and 8 assists.  The Lumberjills will try to regroup on Saturday in their last game before the holiday break as they host the Storm of Crown College on Saturday, 12/14 in Ashland, WI. 

Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.