Replacing six seniors from last season’s Colonial League Championship team - including three of its top five scorers - meant Northwestern had a tough task ahead of it entering this season.

But under head coach Chris Deutsch, the Tigers program has always taken a balanced offensive approach, and once again that strategy is paying off.

Northwestern (4-2) put nine players in the scoring column on Monday night in a 49-30 Colonial League victory over rival Northern Lehigh.

The Tigers did return their leading scorer from a season ago in junior Paige Sevrain, who has been an effective presence in the post ever since her freshman campaign.

Northwestern wasted no time getting Sevrain involved against the Bulldogs 3-2 zone defense, moving the ball well and getting it into Sevrain in the painted area. The result was an eight-point effort from the junior, which led to a 12-6 lead after the first quarter.

“Our thought process coming in was that they were going to come out and play some type of zone. We felt they would have some matchup issues if they went man, so the goal was to take care of the ball and try to get it inside to Sevrain,” said Deutsch. “Then we had some girls step up and hit some shots against the zone as well, which was big. I have to give our girls credit. We really had only two girls coming back this season with major varsity experience. But, our younger girls and our inexperienced girls have done a solid job for us so far, and are getting better.”

In the second quarter, after their success in the post early, the Tigers were able to get some open shots on the perimeter and made them count, hitting three triples to extend their lead to 25-12 at halftime. Three-pointers from Rylee McGinley, Cara Thomas and Brook Balliet cemented Northwestern’s commanding first-half advantage.

Emma Niebill was able to get some offense going for Northern Lehigh in the third quarter, as her seven points in the frame helped create a little momentum for the Bulldogs. Niebill was able to create some offense with her defense, turning three steals into transition opportunities.

However, the Tigers countered with their best scoring quarter of the night, led by Sevrain, who had six points in the quarter, as they stretched their advantage to 41-21 entering the fourth.

“We were able to get out to a sizable lead, which forced them to go man-to-man, and that put us in some favorable positions offensively,” said Deutsch. “We also did a nice job defensively tonight in the half court. We didn’t allow many shots in the paint, and we also did a nice job of rebounding, and not giving up those second chance opportunities.”

LEADERS … Sevrain led the way for Northwestern with 18 points, while Thomas chipped in with nine. For Northern Lehigh, Niebill scored a game-high 19 points.

PERIMETER DEFENSE … Northwestern held Northern Lehigh to 1-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half, and surrendered just two offensive boards, both on long rebounds.

NORTHWESTERN

Brook Balliet 2-0-0-5, Minnich 1-0-1-2, Brynn Balliet 1-0-0-2, McGinley 1-0-0-3, Thomas 4-0-0-9, Nyce 1-0-0-2, Fisher 2-0-0-4, Dorney 0-0-0-0, Fenstermaker 0-0-0-0, Kirkopoulos 2-0-0-4, Sevrain 8-2-2-18. TOTALS; 22-2-3-49

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Whalen 2-2-2-6, D. Barthold 1-0-0-3, Peters 1-0-0-2, Niebell 6-5-6 19, Lear 0-0-0-0, K. Barthold 0-0-0-0, Dougherty 0-0-0-0, Steckel 0-0-0-0. TOTALS; 10-7-8-30.

Northwestern 12 13 16 8 - 49

No. Lehigh 6 6 9 9 - 30

Three-pointers: NL - Niebell 2, D. Barthold 1. NW - Thomas 1, McGinley 1, Brook Balliet 1.