When a team beats every opponent on its schedule, there are bound to be opponents looking for revenge in a second meeting.

Northwestern's girls basketball team found that out in the regular season, when Bangor ended the Lady Tigers' perfect season at 20-0.

They found out again in Friday night's Colonial League title game.

Southern Lehigh, a team which blew an 18-point third quarter lead in its first meeting with Northwestern, got revenge in Friday's league championship game at Freedom High School. The Spartans won their third straight league title, beating Northwestern 62-57.

The loss to the Tigers in January motivated Southern Lehigh for the rest of the season.

"We talked about that since the day we walked out of that locker room," said Southern Lehigh head coach Megan Dellegrotti. "We talked about how we learned from that. Sometimes losing like that helps a team. It's one of the best lessons you can learn."

In that first meeting the Spartans gave up 32 points in the fourth quarter and 52 in the second half. In Friday night's title game, Southern Lehigh took its biggest lead of the game into halftime, 34-26. This time the Spartans closed out the game and kept the Tigers from making a second-half rally.

"We just had to prove we could play defense and win in a tough atmosphere," said junior forward Madalene McDonald, who scored a team-high 18 points. "That's what good teams are made of; they're not going get knocked down if they get punched once."

The Tigers (22-2) never trailed by more than the eight-point halftime deficit. They spent the second half cutting the lead down to two or three points then watching the Spartans get a basket or two to push it back to five or six.

Foul trouble plagued both teams, but more so Northwestern, which had four players with three fouls by late in the third quarter and saw three starters foul out of the game. The teams combined to shoot 68 foul shots with Southern Lehigh taking 41 of them.

"The referees did not decide the game," said Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch. "They called it both ways."

Northwestern got within one big basket of tying the game in the final minute.

They were down 58-55 and 60-57 late in the game, but couldn't manage to tie the score.

The Spartans scored their last 14 points at the foul line. They made 14 of 20 foul shots over the final 3:29 to hold off the charging Tigers.

The early deficit was too much too overcome.

"The problem we had was stopping them transition-wise," said Deutsch. "They were pushing the ball up the floor in the first half and we weren't getting back."

Colonial League semifinal recap

Northwestern reached the title game by beating Notre Dame (Green Pond) in the semifinals, 48-43.

The Tigers Trista Cunningham scored 16 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in the win.

"It wasn't just me," she said. "It was the whole team. Sara Jones gave me so many assists."

Cunningham scored nine of her points and pulled down eight rebounds during a tight second half. With front-court mate Kaleen Suter on the bench with four fouls for a chunk of the second half, Cunningham made her presence felt under the basket.

"She's not the tallest girl out there, but she had a big game for us tonight," said Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch. "She didn't play the first time against Notre Dame. But she was a big difference tonight."

The Tigers had a seven-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Crusaders pulled within a basket on a Gabby Altmire basket with 2:55 left in the game.

Three Sara Jones free throws pushed the lead back up to five, but Notre Dame's Lexi McGivern (16 points) sank a three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining, cutting the lead to 45-43.

Sara Jones sealed the win by making three of four free throws down the stretch. The senior made five of six free throws in the final 1:02.

Northwestern fielded all of its starting five players for the first time in three weeks as sophomore guard Sarah Segan missed some time with a knee injury. She scored 10 points in her first game back, one of four Tigers with eight or more points.

Jones scored 12 points while dishing out five assists and pulling down eight rebounds.

Sabrina Mertz had eight points, including the first two baskets of the second half.

The Tigers let an early 13-0 lead dwindle during the first quarter and trailed 24-23 heading into halftime.

"At halftime we were a little down," said Segan. "But we needed to keep our heads up and win this one."

The Crusaders, which have two weeks off before their District 11 Class AA semifinal game, gave the Tigers ther best effort in three tries this season.