The Northland College Lumberjills fell to the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings, 81-64 on Saturday in Ashland, WI.  After a 30 point loss to the Vikings on the road earlier this season, the Jills were determined  to have a better showing this time against BLC.  
 
After winning the tip-off, BLC's Abby Olson attacked the rim but missed the shot.  The Vikings star player Hanna Geistfeld put back the Olson miss to put BLC on the board first.  Northland immediately fired back with an 8-0 run.  Sophomore Bianca Avalos took a charge from Olson which fueled the Jills offensive spurt.  Freshman Bailey Wynn split a pair of free throws, fellow Freshman Ashley Lopez hit a 3-pointer and Sophomore Aja Gregg and Freshman Sarah Dunbar both had 2-point baskets in the run.  The veteran Vikings team roared back to tie the game at 8, and Geistfeld helped get BLC back on top 14-11.  Avalos took over offensively to end the quarter as she scored 6 consecutive points for the Jills to put Northland up 17-14 as the quarter was winding down.  The experienced Viking team took advantage of their limited time to get a shot off and scored inside as the quarter ended and the Jills lead 17-16.  
 
Despite the success BLC had inside in the first quarter, the Vikings started to heat up from beyond the arc in the second quarter.  The Vikings hit 5 3-pointers in the quarter to extend the BLC lead.  Avalos hit two of her own 3-pointers in the quarter and Wynn had one as well but the momentum swung to the Vikings as they opened up a 49-34 lead at halftime.  The Vikings outscored the Jills 33-17 in the second quarter. 
 
Although Northland tried to keep things close in the third quarter, the Vikings really started to roll offensively.  The Jills only scored 11 points in the quarter and Vikings lead grew to 68-45. 
 
Northland wasn't ready to hand the game over to the Vikings as they stepped up both their offense and defense in the final quarter.  The Jills started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer in the corner from Freshman Alex Espinoza.  After a defensive stand, Dunbar went coast to coast and was fouled scoring 3 points the hard way.  Dunbar nabbed a steal on the next possession and scored again to bring the score to 68-52.  Avalos drew another offensive fouls on the Vikings which gave the Jills another opportunity to score and cut into the lead.  Lopez perfectly timed a rebound on Dunbar's missed shot and laid it in. Lopez hit a 3-pointer on the next possession for the Jills and Dunbar grabbed another steal and got an easy lay up to bring the score to 70-59 with 5:16 to go in the game.  The Vikings scored on their next possession but Avalos hit another 3-pointer with 4:30 left to play to get Northland within 10 points, 72-62 but that was as close as the Jills would get. 
 
Despite the loss, Northland saw a lot of positives from the game.  Avalos, who started in place of injured Miranda Wagner, led the Jills with 21 points.  Lopez and Wynn both had 11 points and Dunbar chipped in 9.  The Jills forced 28 Viking turnovers, 19 in the second half.  Northland had 17 steals on the game and Wynn and Dunbar led the Jills with 4 steals a piece. They also protected the ball really well and only had 7 turnovers for the game.  Geistfeld led the Vikings with 37 points and Olson chipped in 18.
 
Northland's final home game is on Wednesday as the Jills host the Rams of North Central at 7:15 pm.