Ashland, WI - Despite a valiant second-half comeback, the Northland College Lumberjills couldn't catch the Finlandia University Lions. The Jills fell to the Lions 72-57 in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday night in Ashland.
With three top scorers out with injuries and illness, the Jills only suited up 10 players for the contest. The Jills struggled to score in the first half as they only put up 10 points in the half, 6 in the first quarter and 4 in the second. Northland has struggled to put the ball in the basket at times this season and despite limiting Finlandia standout Katie Lundeen to 6 first half points, the Jills still found themselves down 38-10 at the half as a the Lions attacked the paint at will. Finlandia scored 26 of their 38 first half points in the paint. The Jills shot 1-17 and 1-19 in the first two quarters while also shooting 5-16 from the free throw line. Northland was getting good looks within their offense but just couldn't find the inside of the basket and the Lions took advantage of the Jills scoring droughts.
The Jills started to play more confident basketball in the third quarter and their shots started to fall. The Lions scored the first 5 points of the quarter, but then the Jills went a run of their own. Fueled by points from Northland's
Sarah Dunbar,
Ashley Lopez,
Sarah Houle and
Bianca Avalos, the Jills went on a 13-0 run to get within 20, 43-23. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter, but Northland outscored Finlandia 20-17 in the quarter as the Lions lead was cut to 25, 55-30.
Despite the large Finlandia lead, the Jills did not quit. Lead by an offensive spurt from Avalos, Northland would not let the Lions extend their lead. The Jills outscored the Lions 27-17 in the final quarter. Northland worked hard to cut the Finlandia lead down to 15 midway through the quarter, but that was as close as the Jills would get.
Although the slow offensive first half hampered the Jills, Northland went toe to toe with the Lions in the second half. Avalos led the Jills with 17 points, 14 in the second half. Dunbar had 16 , all in the second half. Northland also got some good post minutes from
Autumn Ninke who helped limit Finlandia's Lundeen to only 6 first half points. Ninke finished with 3 points and 7 rebounds. Lopez also chipped in 9 points for the Jills. Finlandia was led by Lundeen and Molly Berg who both scored 16 points.
The Northland College Lumberjills are back in conference action on Saturday when they take on conference powerhouse Bethany Lutheran in Ashland. Tip off is set for 4:45 pm CST.
