The 16^th ranked Charger women's basketball team defeated the Red Raiders of Northwestern 79-70 Wednesday evening in Orange City, IA. The Chargers built a first half lead behind their strong defense, holding Northwestern to seven-for-27 from the field in the first half.
 
Mallie McNair led Briar Cliff with 25 points, hitting 10-of-10 free throws and adding seven rebounds. Brooklyn Heineman scored 16 points, recorded six assists, and grabbed six rebounds, while Abby Lee added 11 points and recorded five steals. Kenna Mongan added 14 points while shooting 50% from the floor and going four-for-four from the free throw line..
 
The Chargers outscored Northwestern 26-11 in the second quarter to take a 40-20 halftime lead, then held off a late rally by the Red Raiders.
 
Northwestern shot 52.6 percent in the second half after managing just nine points in the opening quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders knocked down six straight threes to cut the lead within six with less than a minute to play. The Chargers went five-for-six at the charity stripe late with McNair going four-for-four at the line during the stretch.

Ashtyn Wobig paced Northwestern in scoring with 19 points and went four-for-four from downtown.
 
Briar Cliff shot 41.9 percent from the field and went 18-of-24 from the free-throw line, while Northwestern finished at 41.9 percent shooting and 11-of-18 from beyond the arc.
 
The Cliff improves to 14-4 (8-4 GPAC) and will return to the Newman Flanagan Center this Saturday to host the Mount Marty Lancers on Hall of Fame Weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.