New Ulm advances past Worthington
NEW ULM — While the second half was difficult to watch because of fouls, New Ulm eventually pulled away in the Section 2AAA quarterfinals, defeating Worthington 77-65 on Tuesday night.
The Eagles (20-6) will now face No. 1 Mankato West (19-7) at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Minnesota State University, Mankato. It’s New Ulm’s second straight 20-win season.
The Eagles had a tough time getting anything going offensively because of the frequent play stoppages. Regardless, they pulled away in the second half after the Trojans cut the deficit to 40-36 in the second half.
“Our offense always starts with our defense,” New Ulm coach Brian Batt said. “We weren’t generating enough turnovers on defense and that kind of hurt us a little bit there.”
The Eagles looked like they were going to run away early on, taking off with an 18-4 lead after Carli Botten’s basket with 11:04 left in the half.
However, the Trojans began to slowly cut into the lead and cut New Ulm’s lead to 27-19. The Eagles double-digit lead had been trimmed to 33-25 at halftime.
In the second half, Iyanna Wieland hit three from beyond the arc to spark the New Ulm offense early. Her first 3 put the Eagles up 36-27 and later, she hit back-to-back 3s as New Ulm led 46-38 with 11:28 to go in the game.
“It’s huge for the team and it’s huge for her too,” Batt said. “All your good outside shooters are streak shooters and she’s a fantastic shooter when she’s hot and she can get down on herself. When she knocks a couple down, her confidence goes through the roof and that got us rolling again.”
The New Ulm lead had slipped to 50-46, but a 7-0 run by the Eagles made it 57-46 and they built on that lead later in the game thanks to Joey Batt. Batt scored 21 of her 31 points in the second half.
Wieland finished with 12 points while Ellie Bute and Lizzie Shaul each finished with nine points.
Emma Thuringer led Worthington with 14 points and Stephie Bauman finished with 10 points.