One can look at every box score and pour through all the stats that they want, and they still may not know the value that some players bring to their team.

Northwestern Lehigh senior Nina Miller is one of those players, and to see her performance Tuesday night is to know just what she meant to the Tigers in their 31-26 semifinal win over Notre Dame Green Pond at Catasauqua High School.

Officially, Miller finished with four points in the game, with three of those points coming on a key shot that opened the fourth quarter and extended a Northwestern (23-1) run to eight straight points. The run pushed the Tigers to their largest lead of the game at 24-16.

Throughout the game, Miller was a thorn in the side of the Notre Dame (17-6) offense, including a key fourth-quarter steal that led to a Northwestern basket at the other end of the court.

“I thought Nina probably hit the biggest shot of the game when she hit that three-pointer,” said Tigers coach Chris Deutsch. “It was a really tight game, and that was huge. She had the guts to step up and make a big shot in a pressure situation.”

The opening minute of the game saw Northwestern’s Brook Balliet hit a three-pointer on the first possession, and Notre Dame’s Carly Campbell drive down low for two of her eight first-half points. From that point, defense was the name of the game.

The Crusaders kept Paige Sevrain out of the scoring column throughout the first half, but that didn’t prevent the Tigers from hanging onto the lead from the opening tip and up to halftime, when they headed for the locker room with a 14-9 edge.

“I was nervous about this game all day, and was worried because I know how well coached they are, and I knew he (Notre Dame coach Josh Kopp) would have a game plan to counter some of the stuff we like to do,” explained Deutsch.

Northwestern went up 16-9 on a basket from Maci Fisher to open the second half, but Notre Dame got a three from Emma Altmire, before both Julia Pohl and Olivia Schweitzer picked up buckets to tie the game at 16 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.

“When they tied the game, we came in during our timeout and we talked, and we knew we had to play clean defense, no fouls and just play them really tight,” said Miller.

After the timeout, a lapse in communication between Miller and an official led to a turnover. When Miller inbounded the ball, she moved along the baseline, and the referee on the far side whistled to stop the play and gave the ball to Notre Dame.

“I had asked him before he gave me the ball, because I had made a mistake against them before and I remembered that specifically, so I double-checked and he told me I could move,” said Miller.

After the three referees conferred, Notre Dame was awarded the ball, but Miller quickly picked off the inbound pass to give the ball back to Northwestern. At the other end of the court, Thomas was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to put Northwestern back on top.

On the Tigers next trip down, Sevrain seemingly had grown tired of being held scoreless and powered through defenders down low, going up for her first basket of the game and picking up a foul along the way. After hitting the freebie, Northwestern was up 21-16, which is how the third quarter ended.

Miller, a senior, hit her opening three-pointer and after Schweitzer countered with a three of her own, Sevrain again hit from down low. Notre Dame got buckets from both Campbell and Emily Lessig to bring them within three at 26-23.

Northwestern hit five of nine foul shots down the stretch, and also relied on its defense to lock up the win.

THREE-PEAT?

... Northwestern will look for its first string of three straight Colonial League championships in school history when it plays Palmerton (20-3) in the league finals Friday night at Freedom High School. The Tigers’ two previous titles came against Palmerton, including a 49-35 win in 2021 that was the 300th-win of Deutsch’s coaching career. Palmerton holds the distinction of being the last team to beat Northwestern when the Bombers downed the Tigers at Northwestern back on Dec. 6. Since then, Northwestern has rattled off 22 straight wins.

NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH

Balliet 2-2-4-7, Miller 1-1-2-4, Bissell 0-0-0-0, Thomas 1-5-7-7, Fisher 3-0-0-6, Sevrain 2-3-3-7, TOTALS: 9-11-16-31

NOTRE DAME GREEN POND

Altmire 1-0-0-3, Schweitzer 3-0-0-8, Pohl 1-0-0-2, S. Zambo 0-0-0-0, Howlett 0-0-0-0, Lessig 1-0-0-2, E. Zambo 0-1-2-1, Campbell 5-0-0-10, TOTALS: 11-1-2-26

Northwestern 8 6 7 10 - 31

Notre Dame 2 7 7 10 - 26

Three-pointers: NWL – Balliet 1, Miller 1; NDGP – Schweitzer 2, Altmire 1