NORTHAMPTON An adage that has been used in all walks of life over the years is, "The third time is the charm."

Tuesday night, Bangor (13-10) hoped that phrase would hold true. The fourth-seeded Lady Slaters took on the No. 1 seed Northwestern Tigers (22-1) in the Colonial League girls' basketball semi-finals at Catasauqua High School, which was the third match-up between the two squads this season.However, the Lady Tigers' defense proved those words to be false.Northwestern took an early lead, clamped down defensively, and cruised to a 53-36 victory."We really played off our defense tonight," said Lady Tiger head coach Chris Deutsch. "Our defense created a lot for us. As long as we are playing good defense, even if we aren't making shots, we are going to be there."Luckily for him and his squad, not only was the defense playing with energy, but the shots were falling.Northwestern claimed the first lead after a lay-up by senior Trista Cunningham, who finished with nine points and five rebounds, put them up 2-0 with 6:25 remaining in the first. The Lady Tigers were able to hold on to that early lead to go in front 10-6 after the first eight minutes of play."The whole regular season we came out kind of weak, but we were able to come through," said Northwestern junior Sarah Segan, who led all scorers with 15. "Tonight everyone was great and we were able to get that cushion. It was definitely reassuring to know that we had that little room."Segan credited her teammates, but her nine first half points, coupled with teammate Sabrina Mertz's 11 at the break, really made the difference in Deutsch's eyes."Her game has stepped up. Her defense has been tremendous as well. She has been like speed lightning out there. Watching her is like a tennis match, she is all over the place, back and forth, she is just so quick. She hit some big shots for us tonight and did a good job."Northwestern extended their lead to double-digits in the second, getting it as high as 14, but Bangor finished the quarter strong with a 7-0 scoring run that then shifted the momentum in favor of the Lady Slaters, as they went into the break only down five, 24-19.That momentum vanished quickly for Bangor. The Slaters opened the second half with three straight turnovers and coughed it up eight more times in the third as they failed to score a point in the entire quarter, which was the obvious difference maker in the ball game."The third quarter was one of the best quarters of basketball we have played all year long," Deutsch said, as his girls registered 13 points that frame. "We shut them out the entire quarter. We came out and did our job in the third quarter and that was the difference maker by far."Taking a 37-19 lead in to the fourth quarter, the Lady Tigers did not let up on their stingy defense and made moving the ball tough for the Lady Slaters, who were led by senior Chandler Zungolo, who scored 10.Two free throws by Northwestern senior Kylee Bennett sealed the win and advanced the Lady Tigers to the CL girls' championship game against No. 2 seeded Southern Lehigh, who won the South Division crown, and defeated Salisbury 52-48 in the other semi-final Tuesday night. That contest will be played Friday night starting at 6pm at Freedom High School.BANGORSmith 0-0-0-0, Vass 0-2-2-2, Phillips 3-0-0-7, King 1-0-0-3, Shook 0-0-0-0, Green 0-0-0-0, Zungolo 4-2-3-10, Colton 1-0-0-2, Kallus 1-3-4-5 Baker 1-0-0-3, Wilkins 1-2-2-4. Totals: 11-8-10-36NORTHWESTERNMertz 3-5-9-14, Landrigan 1-2-2-4, Day 0-0-0-0, Divers 0-0-0-0, Segan 4-7-12-15, Koenig 0-0-0-0, Bennett 0-2-2-2, Thomas 1-3-4-5, Cunningham 4-1-4-9, Anderson 2-0-0-4. Totals: 15-20-33-53Bangor 6 13 0 17 - 36N'western 10 14 13 16 - 53Three-pointers: Bangor - King 3, Phillips 1Baker 1; Northwestern - Mertz 3.