Kendra De Jong had 20 points and 12 rebounds in Northwestern's 92-60 win over Concordia, MI.SIOUX CITY (KTIV) -- -
Seventh-ranked Northwestern 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.
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 on Wednesday with a sprained ankle, but bounced back quickly with another solid performance on Friday.
"If I was to the point where I knew I wasn't playing the way I should have been and I was hurting my teammates, I was definitely going to be 'hey I can't do this', but I was able to start the second half and it got loosened enough where I wasn't noticing it that much," said DeJong.
"It was taped up tight enough I don't think it was going to go anywhere," said Northwestern head coach Chris Yaw. "Credit goes to her, just being the mentally tough kid we know she is but even a different circumstance to be a mentally tough kid. She performed very well today."
Northwestern got back on a roll to start the second half with a 26-8 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 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 No. 2 Saint Francis 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.
