St. Norbert Rolls Lawrence, Clinches MWC Championship Hosting Chores

From Sports Information Director, February 14, 2009 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

APPLETON - St. Norbert College clinched hosting duties for the Midwest Conference Championship Tournament with a convincing 67-31 triumph over winless Lawrence University at Alexander Gym.

The Green Knights won their 12th straight game to improve to 18-4 overall and 14-1 in the MWC. St. Norbert will host the tournament Feb. 27-28 at Schuldes Sports Center, with the winner claiming the MWC championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Lawrence dropped to 0-21, 0-14.

St. Norbert struggled to score in the first half but its defense allowed it to take a 12-2 lead with 10:31 left in the first half. The Vikings got to within 22-13 with 3:13 left in the half, but St. Norbert scored the final four points of the period to take a 26-13 lead into halftime.

The Green Knights opened the first three minutes of the second half on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Morgan Strasser basket, to take a 36-13 lead. Lawrence would not get 20 points until Laura Aerts hit a 3-pointer with 6:59 left to cut the deficit to 48-20.

No player in the game scored double figures, and only two St. Norbert players played more than 20 minutes - Stefanie Bunday and Amy Brunner with 22 minutes each. Denise Heuser led St. Norbert with nine points, while Rachel Hermus and Jamie Kuhl each had eight points apiece. The Green Knights shot 44.4 percent (28-for-63) from the floor, and outrebounded the Vikings 45-29.

Lawrence, which played just seven players, shot 26.5 percent (13-for-49) from the floor and was just 1-for-13 from beyond the three-point arc. The Vikings were led by Erin Henzi's nine points.

St. Norbert has held 10 of its last 11 opponents to 54 points or less and is now allowing just 53.5 points per game this season.