Northwestern advances to their fourth Final Four as they defeated Black Hills State, 91-69, in the Elite Eight, Saturday night in Sioux City, Iowa. The Red Raiders improve to 33-2 and will play GPAC rival Morningside in the second semifinal game on Monday night (8:00pm) at the Tyson Events Center.
This was the second meeting between the two teams and the game was very close in the first half. Black Hills State shot very well in the first half (58%) and made 4-of-5 three pointers to stay with the top-seeded Red Raiders. Northwestern struggled a bit in the opening period, shooting 44% from the floor and 29% from the three point line. Coach Woudstra's squad led by two, 44-42, as the teams went into the halftime locker room.
Coach Woudstra's squad began the second half with a 16-4 run to break open a close game. The Northwestern defense clamped down on the Yellow Jackets, forcing them to shoot just 25% from the field in the second half.
Northwestern was led by Debbie Remmerde with 40 points. The senior guard leads the tournament with 106 points in the three games. Remmerde was 13-of-21 from the floor and made six three pointers for the third straight game. Amy Larson (15) and Randa Hulstein (14) were also in double figures for NWC. The Red Raiders were out-rebounded for the first time in the tournament, 47-42. Both Remmerde and Miranda Boekhout grabbed eight boards.
The Red Raiders will play Morningside at 8:00 pm on Monday, March 17 in the Final Four. It will be the fourth time the teams have played this season, with Northwestern going 2-1 in the previous match-ups. Hastings, a third GPAC school, will play top-seed College of the Ozarks in the first semifinal.
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