Green Knights Rally to Win Tournament

From Sports Information Director, November 16, 2008 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College rallied down the stretch to post a hard-fought 76-71 win over UW-Stout in the championship game of the Associated Financial Group Tip-Off Tournament at Schuldes Sports Center.

St. Norbert, ranked 17th in the D3hoops.com Top 25, was able to pull out a game which featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes and no lead larger than six points. In a highly physical game, 49 fouls were whistled. St. Norbert hit 29 of 33 (87.9 percent) to help claim the triumph.

The Green Knights (2-0) trailed 66-61 with 5:42 left and were down 71-70 with 1:52 to play when Stout's Charlee Edwards made 1 of 2 free throws. Cortney Biese canned a 16-foot jumper to put St. Norbert ahead to stay with a 72-71 lead with 1:28 left.

Stout (1-1) turned the ball over on its next possession and St. Norbert missed a shot with 33 seconds left. The Blue Devils had a fast break chance but Edwards missed a layup short with 26 seconds left. St. Norbert secured the rebound and made all four of its free throws the rest of the way to close out the win.

St. Norbert never led by more than four points in the first half and settled on a 39-38 halftime lead. Both teams continued within striking distance of each other before Stout went on a 7-2 run to snap a 59-59 tie. After the Blue Devils took their 66-61 lead with 5:42 left, they went 1-for-11 from the floor for the rest of the game.

St. Norbert's Denise Heuser was named the tournament's most valuable player after scoring 17 points in the championship game, making 8 of 9 free throws while committing just two turnovers in 23 minutes. Morgan Strasser scored 19 points and Stefanie Bunday 12, with both being named to the all-tournament team.

Stout's Julia Hirssig scored 22 points with 14 rebounds to post game highs. Danielle DeWitt added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Blue Devils. Hirssig, DeWitt and North Central's Meghan McGuire were also named to the all-tournament team.

St. Norbert shot 53.5 percent from the floor, making 23 of 43 field goals. The Green Knights were outrebounded 41-32, getting just three offensive rebounds.

Stout shot 33.3 percent from the floor, making 22 of 66 shots. The Blue Devils had 20 seconds chance points thanks to 21 offensive rebounds.