The Hamburg Tip-Off Tourney has been the starting point for Northwestern Lehigh girls basketball in recent seasons. The Lady Tigers opened their season with two games in Hamburg over Thanksgiving weekend and finished as the runners-up in the tournament, falling to ELCO in the championship game.

In their opener against Southern Columbia, Northwestern opened a 25-16 halftime lead before sophomore Natalie Conner scored 17 second-half points in a 51-18 win. Conner finished with a game-high 21 points and senior Emma Freeman hit for nine points in the win.

Freshman Lillian Bernhard hit a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter to finish with six points. Two other freshmen, Ava Snyder and Koryn Leh, scored two points in their first varsity game. Northwestern coach Chris Deutsch kept five freshmen on this year’s roster.

Northwestern met ELCO in last year’s opener and lost 63-58 before coming back to beat Hamburg in the consolation game.

This year the Tigers allowed the Raiders 29 first quarter points. Northwestern cut a 20-point deficit after the first quarter to trail 33-18 at halftime. Northwestern’s chipped away in the second half but fell 53-45.

Conner led all scorers with 22 points. ELCO’s Madie Stout scored 21 points with 12 coming from three-pointers in the championship game. Conner earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Bernhard and Freeman both finished with six points in the game. Olivia Reinhart had five to start her senior season.

The Tigers’ Colonial League opener was postponed Tuesday and is now slated for Thursday at Northern Lehigh.