Women's Basketball Suffers 77-60 Road Loss
12/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2005
Box Score
Evanston, IL - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team suffered a 77-60 loss to Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday afternoon in Evanston, IL. With the loss the Gaels end their Midwest swing with a 1-1 record, after beating Bradley on Thursday night.
Saint Mary's dropped to 3-7 on the season and returns home to face UC Davis on Tuesday, December 20 at 7:05 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion. Northwestern improved to 4-5 on the season.
Saint Mary's led for most of the first half, but a Northwestern 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the half had the Wildcats in front 39-32 and the Gaels never led after that point.
In the second half, the Wildcats opened up a 13 point lead, but the Gaels and Serena Benavente caught fire from the outside to cut the lead down to three points with 10:03 left in the game. Saint Mary's wouldn't get any closer as the Wildcats were tough down the stretch.
Overall the Gaels were led offensively by Erika Urmonaite, who scored a career-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Urmonaite also added eight rebounds in a career-high 31 minutes.
Benavente scored a season-high 14 points, including three 3-pointers and added three assists and Mikaela Cowles had eight points off the bench, including two 3-pointers.
Overall the Gaels shot 41.2 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from 3-point range, but committed 27 turnovers. The Gaels won the rebounding battle 37-35. Northwestern shot 47.6 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range. Ifeoma Okonkwo led the Wildcats with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds.
In the opening half, the Gaels were led offensively by Urmonaite, who scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Jontelle Smith had six points on two 3-pointers and Maija Lahde had five points.
As a team the Gaels shot 46.2 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from 3-point range, but committed 17 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Northwestern shot 46.9 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from 3-point range and committed eight turnovers. The Gaels outrebounded the Wildcats 21-14, while Northwestern had eight steals.
The Gaels return to action on Tuesday, December 20 when they host UC Davis at 7:05 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion.
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