St. Norbert Cruises Past Finlandia

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

DE PERE - The St. Norbert College women's basketball team jumped out to a 7-0 lead out of the game and went on to post a 69-49 non-conference win over Finlandia University at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights improved to 5-2 overall and is now 21-1 in their last 22 games at Schuldes Sports Center. Finlandia dropped to 1-10.

St. Norbert converted three Finlandia turnovers on its first three possessions into points to take a 7-0 lead just 1 minute 14 seconds into the game. The Green Knights had a couple of baskets by Cortney Biese and a 3-pointer by Morgan Strasser during the run.

The Lions worked their way back into the game to tie the game at 12-12 with 13:22 left in the first half. From there, St. Norbert went on a 23-5 run to grab a 35-17 lead with 4:32 left to play before halftime. Denise Heuser's layup started the run, and then followed up with a steal and layup for the first four points of the skein.

Finlandia scored the first five points of the second half to trim its deficit to 40-26, but the Lions would get no closer. St. Norbert led 49-31 with 15:32 left before going on a 12-0 run for a 61-31 lead with 8:07 left. The Lions went on a 10-0 run of their own but never got to within less than 18 points the rest of the game.

All 14 of the St. Norbert players who saw action scored. Heuser led St. Norbert with 11 points, while Strasser and Pelky each had nine. St. Norbert shot 45.6 percent from the floor, making 26 of 57 shots, and had just eight fouls.

Finlandia shot 36 percent from the floor, making 18 of 50 shots. Linzy Monticello came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points, connecting on 5 of 6 3-point field-goal attempts. Casey Luke hit four 3-pointers for 12 points, while Jodi Riutta added 10 points and 13 rebounds.