St. Norbert Keeps Midwest Conference Lead With Triumph Over Beloit

From Sports Information Director, January 31, 2009 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College held on to its lead in the Midwest Conference women's basketball race with a resounding 70-44 win over Beloit College at Schuldes Sports Center.

The Green Knights, 13-4 overall and 9-1 in the MWC, extended their home winning streak to 21 games. St. Norbert remained one game ahead of idle Ripon College in the MWC standings. Beloit, which entered the game one game behind St. Norbert, fell to 10-7 overall and 7-3 in the MWC.

St. Norbert led 27-21 with 4:41 left in the first half before Morgan Strasser connected on a 3-pointer and Stefanie Bunday hit a runner in the lane for a 32-21 lead. The Green Knights would never lead by less than nine points the rest of the game.

Beloit cut its deficit to 43-33 on a 3-pointer by Amanda Moore. But the Buccaneers would come up empty on their next eight possessions, missing two 3-pointers by Moore and committing six turnovers. Beloit would score 11 points in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Strasser led St. Norbert with 18 points, while Rachel Hermus added 10 points. Eleven different players scored for St. Norbert, which shot 42.9 percent from the floor. St. Norbert had just 14 turnovers and connected on 19 of 25 free-throw attempts.

Mary Parker had 13 points to lead Beloit, while Diana Sopkowicz added 11 points and Moore 10. Beloit shot 41 percent from the floor, making 16 of 39 shots. The Buccaneers had 28 turnovers, with 13 players having at least one.