Two keys to winning playoff games are senior leadership and defense.

In Tuesday night’s Colonial League semifinal game against Pen Argyl, Northwestern got early leadership from senior Rachel Dorney and then relied upon impressive team defense to advance to the league semifinals with a 51-43 win over the Knights.

With Northwestern (19-4) shaking off some rust early in the game, senior Rachel Dorney came through with eight points in the first quarter to keep her team within striking distance.

With the Tigers trailing 6-0 early, Dorney went to work over the final six minutes of the quarter, combining with freshman Cara Thomas, who hit for five points in the quarter. While the two were the only Northwestern players in the scoring column at that point, Pen Argyl had their lead limited to 16-13. Junior Jillian Morro knocked down 10 first quarter points for Pen Argyl (13-10).

“We don’t have a lot of seniors, but I was really proud of the way that Rachel stepped up tonight,” said Northwestern coach Chris Deutsch. “She did a nice job when we were really struggling and hit some big shots and that’s what senior leadership is all about.”

Dorney, who has averaged just three points per game this season, has been more of a defensive spark plug for the team. Once the Tigers offense got on track, Dorney left the scoring up to others and returned to being the defensive stalwart on the floor.

“It’s my senior year so I want to make the most of it, especially here in the playoffs. I just do whatever I can to help the team win,” Dorney explained after the game. “We came out with a few nerves, and it took us a little time to get going. Collectively, we all contributed to getting the win.”

In the second quarter, the offense awoke with Thomas hitting threes and Paige Sevrain starting to dominate around the basket. On back-to-back possessions, Sevrain drew fouls driving to the basket and scored seven points in the quarter. Meanwhile, Thomas continued her scoring barrage and dropped in another eight points to lead all scorers with 13 at the half.

Pen Argyl’s second quarter offense came primarily from sophomore Ellianna Wallbillich, who scored eight points to finish with 12 for the first half. When the buzzer sounded, the Green Knights held a 33-30 lead.

“We weren’t very good defensively in the first half, but credit them because they were getting a lot of layups and transitioning well off missed shots,” said Deutsch. “To be honest, I think we were lucky to only be down by three at the half because they played a better half than we did.”

Things began to change after the break. The Tigers defense started to force more turnovers and take advantage of even the smallest miscues. Morro kept things going in the right direction for Pen Argyl by getting to the foul line and continuing to hit on layups, but Northwestern Lehigh cut the lead down to 42-41 by the end of the third quarter.

If the defense led Northwestern in the third quarter, it dominated in the fourth, limiting Pen Argyl to just one trip to the foul line and closing the lanes to the basket, forcing shots to come from outside the paint. Sevrain took over the rebounding and finished the game with 11 boards, seven of which were in the final two quarters.

Thomas finished with a game-high 18 points in addition to doing her part defensively. Northwestern Lehigh held the Knights to just one point in the game’s final eight minutes.

YOU TAKE IT ... Pen Argyl led from the start of the game until the midway point of the second quarter. After that, there were eight lead changes in the game. Three times in the second quarter Northwestern tied the game only to have Pen Argyl reclaim the lead. It was not until Sevrain’s first set of foul shots with 4:03 left in the second quarter that the Tigers took their first lead of the game. They took the lead for good when Sevrain opened the scoring in the fourth quarter to put Northwestern up 43-42.

WE GOT THIS ... Northwestern Lehigh has made somewhat of a habit of overtaking opponents in the second half. Other teams should note that if the Tigers are close at halftime, they need to be ready for a challenge. “It’s certainly not my words of wisdom,” laughed Deutsch in trying to explain the trend. “The assistant coaches come up with most of the good ideas and you have to credit the girls because they go out and execute everything.”

ON TO CATASAUQUA ... The semifinal games will be played at Catasauqua High School on Wednesday. As No. 3 Northwestern will face No. 2 seed Bangor (16-6) at 6 p.m. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Palmerton (20-1) takes on No. 5 seed Wilson (15-7),

PEN ARGYL

Morro 7-3-4-17, Wallbillich 5-1-1-12, Kotulka 3-0-0-6, O’Brien 2-0-0-5, Kupres 1-0-1-2, Falletta 0-1-2-1, Williams 0-0-0-0, Antonioli 0-0-0-0, TEAM 18-5-8-43.

NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH

Thomas 7-0-0-18, Sevrain 7-3-3-17, Dorney 4-0-0-8, Fisher 2-0-0-4, Bro. Balliet 1-0-0-2, Bry. Balliet 1-0-0-2, Nyce 0-0-0-0, TEAM 22-3-3-51

Pen Argyl 16 17 9 1 - 43

Northwestern 13 17 11 10 - 51

Three-pointers: PA – Wallbillich 1, O’Brien 1; NWL – Thomas 4.