MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin Lutheran College opened the second half on a 13-2 run to overcome a two-point halftime deficit and defeat Concordia University Wisconsin 76-67 on Saturday afternoon in the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament Championship game at the Recreation Complex to earn the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
A mere 52 seconds into the second half, the Warriors stole the lead and never looked back. The Warriors came out of the locker room strong, and baskets from Shavon Dillon (Milwaukee, Wis./Hope School), Erika Laete (Spokane, Wash./Evergreen Lutheran) and Rachel Johnson (Milwaukee Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led the Warriors on a 13-2 run. CUW battled back and brought the margin within four at the 15:58 mark, but that was as close as the Falcons would get to touching the NAC Championship trophy.
With 4:34 remaining in the second period, a jumper from Laete took WLC to its largest lead of the game, 15 points. In the final minutes of regulation, CUW was forced to send the Warriors to the line in hope to tip the score in its favor. The attempt was to no avail as the Warriors shot 82.4 percent (14-for-17) from the line in the second half alone.
The three Warriors that sparked the second-half surge merited double digits in the period alone. Laete, Dillon and Johnson finished the game with 26, 14 and 12 points, respectively. Another Warrior joined the ranks with a double digit finish as well. Krissy Day (West Allis, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) had an efficient afternoon scoring 10 points while shooting 3-for-4 from field, 2-for-2 from the three-point arc and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Johnson also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. The Warriors also turned the table in the rebound column, out-rebounding the Falcons 26-18 in the second half and 43-42 for the contest.
WLC finished with an even 50 percent shooting average in the second half and finished the contest shooting 43.9 percent. The Falcons' 9-for-32 (28.1 percent) second-half field goal performance may have been to their demise as they finished the game shooting just 33.3 percent. An impressive 90 percent (18-for-20) showing from the charity strip kept hope alive but could not propel the Falcons to victory.
The first half began as an all-out, neck-in-neck battle. A layup by Concordia's Kendall Kerns gave the Falcons an 8-6 lead with 15:45 remaining in the half, a lead Concordia would keep for the remainder of the period. The Warriors would not finish the half without a fight. A three-pointer by Day and a continuous feed to Laete contending in the post kept the Warriors in the hunt and the margin to a mere five points. WLC entered the locker room at halftime trailing just 29-27.
The Warriors and the Falcons entered halftime with a nearly identical field goal percentage. Concordia edged out Wisconsin Lutheran by shooting 38.7 percent (12-for-31) with the Warriors shooting 37.5 percent (12-for-32). The first half push for the Falcons was found beyond the three-point arc where they netted 3 of 6 attempts (50 percent). The Warriors completed just 1 of 5 attempts (20 percent). The Falcons also controlled the rebound column, out-rebounding WLC 24-17. Laete led the Warriors' first half scoring pursuit netting 12 points with 5 other Warriors recording points as well.
Kerns paced three players for the Falcons in double figures with 23 points and nine rebounds. She was aided by going 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Katie Luethe and Becky Gifford added 12 and 10 points, respectively. CUW concluded the contest shooting 33.3 percent (21-for-63) from the floor.
Wisconsin Lutheran (25-3, 16-2 NAC) will await to hear its first round NCAA Tournament site and opponent until Monday at 2 p.m. when the NCAA unveils its tournament field during its selection show on NCAA.com.