For one half, Salisbury gave Northwestern all it could handle Thursday night in New Tripoli. But when the Lady Tigers clamped down on defense in the second half, they pulled away for a 47-38 win.
"We knew we had to pick it up in the second half," said freshman guard Sabrina Mertz. "We did that. We came out really aggressive and that's what we needed to do."
Holding a 25-21 lead at halftime, Northwestern forced nine Falcon turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half. The defense sparked an 18-0 run and got the Tigers a 43-21 lead with 2:11 left in the third quarter.