MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Hosts St. Norbert College and Wisconsin Lutheran College both posted big wins Thursday in the semifinal round of the 2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Women's Basketball Tournament, setting up a clash between the tournament's top two seeds.
The top-seeded Green Knights (23-3) will host the No. 2-seeded Warriors (19-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Mulva Family Fitness Center in De Pere, Wisconsin. The game will be a rematch of the 2022 final, which Wisconsin Lutheran won by a 51-43 score in Milwaukee.
The Warriors have won 11 NACC tournament titles, including the last two and 10 of the 12. The Green Knights, in just their second year in the NACC, will be looking to pair the tournament title with the regular-season title they locked up last week.
St. Norbert 72, Edgewood 47 (Box Score)
After a relatively slow start, St. Norbert used a 13-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to pull away en route to a 72-47 victory over Edgewood.
Things escalated quickly to open the third quarter, with St. Norbert going on an 8-0 run thanks to four consecutive baskets by Kaycee Gierczak to open a 41-20 lead with 7:21 left in the period. Casey Jepson's putback floater in the paint put the Green Knights ahead 49-31 going into the final 10 minutes.
Edgewood (15-12) would get to within 13 points twice, the last time at 55-42 with 7:15 left, but another 8-0 run by the Green Knights put the game away. Olivia DeCleene and Natalie Cerrato hit 3-pointers and DeCleene cashed in a jumper for a 63-42 lead with 4:59 remaining.
St. Norbert shot 42 percent from the floor, making 29 of 69 field-goal attempts. The Green Knights, who were 9-for-19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the three-point arc, committed just five turnovers. Gierczak led the Green Knights with 23 points, while Gruszynski added 11 points. DeCleene had a hardway double-double, dishing out 11 assists with 10 rebounds while scoring five points. Cerrato and Emma Morrisey each had nine points.
Edgewood shot 34.6 percent (18-for-52) from the floor and committed 23 turnovers. Eden Bonser came off the bench to lead the Eagles with 18 points, while Paige Banks had 13 points. Vivian Guerrero pulled down 16 rebounds.
No. 2 Wisconsin Lutheran 64, No. 4 Concordia Wisconsin 51 (Box Score)
Sam Leisemann tied a career-high with 21 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to lead Wisconsin Lutheran to a 64-51 victory over fourth-seeded Concordia University Wisconsin Thursday at the Time of Grace Center in Wauwatosa.
WLC trailed the Falcons, 10-6, just past the midway mark of the opening quarter but closed the frame with a 12-0 scoring run to take a 22-12 lead into the second quarter.
CUW scored the first five points of the second stanza to halve the lead, but Wisconsin Lutheran responded with eight straight points over a six-minute stretch to build a 13-point lead. The Falcons managed only an Emily Hafemann free throw in the waning seconds of the frame as the Warriors took a 30-18 lead into the break. CUW was held to just 1-of-15 shooting in the second quarter.
Kara Troxel's jumper 30 seconds into the third quarter gave the Warriors their largest lead of the game of 14 points. The Falcons responded with their biggest run of the game of seven points to cut the deficit in half, but four straight from Leisemann pushed the lead back to 11 points with 5:27 remaining. Wisconsin Lutheran went into the fourth quarter holding a 45-36 lead behind a game-high 60 percent shooting in the quarter.
Leisemann scored the first four points of the fourth period for a 13-point advantage. CUW answered with a 6-0 scoring spurt to close within seven points with 5:20 on the clock. The visitors would get no closer the rest of the way, as the Warriors went 7-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 1:09 to seal the semifinal win.
Leisemann recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 19 rebounds to lead WLC. Ella Ten Pas was the other Warrior in double figures with 16 points. Meggie Scott chipped in with seven points and five assists. Wisconsin Lutheran, which outscored Concordia Wisconsin 32-18 in the paint and 16-7 off the bench, shot 43.4 percent (23-for-53) for the game.
Lily Guerra was one of two players in double figures with 16 points for the Falcons, who shot 29.6 percent (16-for-54) for the game. Hafemann added 12 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Erin Viergutz pulled down 10 rebounds.