Northwestern used a 19-6 third quarter to pull ahead and outlast a late Pleasant Valley comeback Saturday. The Tigers beat the Bears 49-43 in a nonleague matchup in Brodheadsville.

Trailing by four at halftime, the Lady Tigers unloaded pressure on the inexperienced backcourt of the Bears, yielding 11 turnovers in the period. Sabrina Mertz's three-pointer from the corner began a 14-0 run to start the second half. The run ended on a Sarah Segan fast-break lay up, turning a four-point Pleasant Valley lead into a 10-point deficit.

Northwestern held on for its second win in as many days as it beat Whitehall on Friday night, less than 24 hours before taking traveling to the edge of the Poconos to take on the Bears.

"I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game, even though they lost some players," Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch said. "But with a short rest after last night's game."

Early on, the game proved to be exactly that, as the first half produced 14 lead changes and seven ties before Masani Francis' fast-break lay up gave Pleasant Valley a 23-21 lead with just under two minutes to go before half. A pair of Mackenzie Borger free throws and another Francis lay-up increased the swell to 27-21, before Segan's free throws ended the first half scoring.

Renee Milos' seven points in the final frame helped the Bears cut the Tiger lead to four with :46 left. However, a Mikaela Koenig lay-up produced the final tally.

"I thought that play out of a time out was huge," Deutsch said. "It was only a four-point game. She makes that and now it's a two-possession game, so that play was big, in my opinion."

With the Tigers' one-two punch of Sabrina Mertz and Sarah Segan on the floor, their squad is in good hands. However, when Mertz committed her fifth foul early in the final period, it caused some stress on the remaining backcourt for the winners.

"We all tried to pick it up," Segan said. "If that happens, in that situation, we need to make sure everyone is ready to step up and know their role out there on the floor."

"We may not have played an A-plus game today," said Deutsch, "but I thought the girls had poise. They didn't lose control out there, and I think that was the difference."

Segan led the winners with 17 points in the game, while Mertz, Erika Thomas and Koenig all notched eight.

"It was a big win for us because we're still trying to figure ourselves out as a team," Segan said. "After a game last night, and with Pleasant Valley being such a good team, we realize this is a big win for us."

Meanwhile, Milos led the Bears with 17 points and 12 boards. The Bears out-rebounded their opponents 35-26.

Both teams made mistakes in the early-season match-up, as the Tigers committed 18 tunrovers while the Bears had 25.

In the JV contest, Northwestern prevailed 21-14, as Leighanna Lister scored eight for the junior Tigers.

A loss to Saucon Valley Tuesday dropped Northwestern to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Colonial League.