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No. 7 Northwestern (Iowa) made itself comfortable on the Tyson Events Center court once again, winning 92-60 over No. 10 Concordia (Mich.) to extend the Red Raider national tournament win streak to 17. Head coach Chris Yaw's program has advanced to the quarterfinals for the sixth-straight year.
Northwestern (25-7) raced out to a 16-5 advantage and never trailed, although the Cardinals (28-7) hung around in the first half thanks to the standout performance of sophomore Abbey Hengesbach. The do-it-all guard racked up 17 points in the first stanza and 21 for the game while playing in 28 minutes. She left the game midway through the second half after falling awkwardly on her right foot.
Red Raider returning All-American Kendra De Jong put up 20 points and 12 rebounds despite playing with a heavily taped left leg. She had left the game early in Northwestern's first round win over Mayville State (N.D.) on Wednesday with an apparent injury, but bounced back quickly with another solid performance on Friday.
Northwestern got back on a roll to start the second half with a 23-8 run out of the break after leading by just five (36-31) at halftime. After tallying only three points in the first half, De Jong got going in the next frame with 12 points during the early second-half onslaught. She got plenty of help from teammates Alli Dunkelberger (18 points and seven rebounds) and Karen Hutson (16 points and five assists).
For the game, Northwestern shot a lights out 50.9 percent from the floor compared to 31.8 percent for Concordia. The Red Raiders also held a 49-34 rebound advantage.
Northwestern will meet the winner between No. 2 Saint Francis (Ind.) and No. 18 Saint Xavier (Ill.) in the quarterfinals. The Red Raiders will look to push their tournament win streak to 18 when they take the court at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
