The first quarter of Friday night’s Northwestern game belonged to Emily Sekerak.

The sophomore center made her presence known the rest of the night as well.

Sekerak scored the Tigers first 10 points of the game and finished the night with 20 points as Northwestern posted a 45-38 Colonial League victory over Northern Lehigh.

Sekerak carried the team while other shooters struggled early on to get shots to fall, helping to soothe what could have been another slow start for Northwestern.

“We’ve come out slow in a few games, and I don’t know why that is, but tonight, Emily really picked us up,” said Tiger coach Chris Deutsch. “She’s a beast and I think she’s going to be really good once she realizes just how good she can be.”

Northern Lehigh (2-5 overall, 1-4 Colonial) was paced by Jada Saeger, who led all scorers with 25 points, including three shots from beyond the arc.

Northern Lehigh hung with Northwestern (7-1, 4-1) through most of the game, despite Lauren Hoffman being hampered with foul trouble and fouling out with :43 left in the third quarter.

With Hoffman, who led the Bulldogs with 10 rebounds, out of the game, Northwestern found some openings down low to work with. Northwestern was able to turn a 30-29 deficit into a 33-30 lead in the last :43 of the third quarter.

“We didn’t play our best tonight, but we just kept battling and looking to get points where we could,” said Sekerak. “We play as a team and everybody stepped up tonight.

“That includes the girls coming off the bench, because it’s not just a couple players carrying the team, or even the starters. The girls off the bench have really stepped up and that’s been a big part of the success.”

Northern Lehigh made a late charge when Saeger hit a long three-pointer with 4:29 left in the game to cut it to 37-36. But the Tigers scored the next eight points to make it 45-36.

A Saeger jumper at the buzzer produced the game’s final points.

KNOCK IT OFF... Hoffman was called for her fourth foul with 2:45 left in the third quarter and Northern Lehigh coach Ken Shankweiler wasn’t shy about letting the referees know that he had hit the boiling point. After several looks from the refs, Shankweiler was given a warning.

DOUBLE DOUBLEHEADER... Northwestern and Northern Lehigh played a girls/boys doubleheader in New Tripoli Friday night. Northwestern has another double-dip Saturday when the girls and boys varsity teams travel to Pottsville for games against the Tide.

CHECKING OUT THE OPPONENT ... Deutsch and his staff took advantage of their Thursday night off to scout Pottsville in its lost to Tamaqua. Deutsch left the game impressed with the Tide.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Guelcher 0-0-0-0, Lear 0-0-0-0, Hoffman 1-3-4-5, Saeger 10-2-3-25, Seier 1-0-2-2, Niebell 2-0-0-6, TOTALS 14-5-9-38

NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH

Betz 0-0-0-0, Mack 0-0-0-0, Lister 2-0-0-4, Jones 0-0-0-0, Ledeboer 0-0-0-0, Sevrain 3-2-2-9, Hess 0-0-0-0, Sekerak 9-2-6-20, Christopher 5-1-4-11, TOTALS 19-5-12-45.

Northern Lehigh 8 14 8 8 - 38

Northwestern 12 8 13 12 - 45

Three-pointers: NL – Saeger 3, Niebell 2; NW – Sevrain 1.