MILWAUKEE, Wis. – No. 8/16 women's basketball opened the 2023-24 season with a win over North Park University 74-51 at the Phil Knueppel Classic hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College on Friday, Nov. 10. The Knights open the season 1-0 and will continue tournament play tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Game Summary
- First Half
- First Quarter
- The Knights jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after a basket from Jaedon Murphy and a three pointer from Taylor Runchey
- The score was 7-5 Wartburg halfway through the first, but a minute later North Park took the lead 8-7 after a basket with a foul
- Maggie Wilkins retook the lead with a layup, but the Vikings closed the first on an 8-1 run and led 17-12
- Second Quarter
- After a layup from Murphy assisted by Britney Young to start the quarter, Macy Harris turned defense to offense taking a steal all the way in for a score to cut the lead to 17-16
- Runchey tied the game at 18 a minute later, but North Park answered with a 7-0 run to go up 25-18 with 5:36 left in the half
- A Wilkins three ball and free throws from Sara Faber cut the lead to 25-23
- After back and forth scoring, Faber cut the lead to one with just over a minute in the half but North Park took a 33-31 lead into the break
- Second Half
- Third Quarter
- Murphy hit a three to give the Knights a 34-33 lead to start second half action
- Minutes later Young connected from three to tie the game at 37 before two baskets from Murphy and a Wilkins jumper put the Knights ahead 43-39 with 4:14 to play in the third
- Harris and Murphy made three pointers in back-to-back possessions to give the Knights a 49-41 lead heading to the fourth
- Fourth Quarter
- Wartburg started the quarter with a 6-0 run that started with a Lauren Woeste free throw and ended with a three-point play from Harris
- After the Vikings cut into the lead, Grace Hennessy answered with a three-point basket to put the lead back to 16
- Natalie Bearbower scored a basket with the foul and Olivia Baxter scored on two layups to push the lead to 74-49
- Wartburg closed out a 74-51 win
Top Performers
- Murphy
- 26 points
- Eight rebounds
- Two blocks
- One assist
- 26 minutes played
- Young
- Five points
- Five assists
- Three steals
- 27 minutes played
- Faber
- Nine points
- Eight rebounds
- Four offensive and four defensive
- One assist
- One steal
- 20 minutes played
Notes/Streaks
- Wartburg is now 5-0 all-time against North Park
- The Knights are 10-0 in its last 10 opening day games dating back to 2014-15
- Wartburg held North Park to just eight points in the third quarter
- The Knights shot 41.9% from the field, 30.8% from three and 66.7% from the free throw line
Next Time Out
The Knights will continue play at the Phil Knueppel Classic Saturday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. against North Central College.
