BOX SCORE
ABERDEEN, S.D. – The NSU women's basketball team wrapped up their 2007-08 final home weekend with a second straight win, this one over Bemidji State, who entered the game in a tie for fourth place in the NSIC standings. A solid 68-60 win improved the Wolves to 11-15 on the year and 7-10 in the NSIC. Bemidji falls to 12-13 overall and 8-8 in the league.
The Northern State Wolves and the Bemidji State Beavers played a very fast-paced first half, exchanging leads four different times during the half. The Wolves took the lead early in the game and kept it for the first five minutes. The Beavers stayed aggressive on offense and battled their way back into the game.
It was all defense for the remaining minutes of the first half. The Wolves out rebounded the Beavers by five in the first half, with the majority being defensive rebounds. Noelle Hall was the leading rebounder for the Wolves and Stephanie Peterson led for the Beavers. Both teams took care of the ball only committing a combined total of 12 turnovers. The Wolves kept the Beavers to just two points in the final four minutes of the half to take a 35-26 lead at the intermission.
The second half of the game started with a shoot out for the Wolves. Halfway through the second half, the Wolves had extended their lead to thirteen points behind the firepower of Jaclyn Arns. She hit two quick three-point shots to put the Wolves up 45-32.
The Wolves' offense began to fizzle as the half wore on, however, and Bemidji State found the touch with the basketball. Northern State's lead had diminished to only seven points with five minutes left in the game. Fortunately for the Wolves, early Bemidji fouls gave the advantage to NSU and unusually cold outside shooting kept the Beavers from closing the gap. The Wolves hung onto an important 68-60 win.
Arns completed another offensively successful night for the Wolves, tallying 22 points from 7-of-15 shooting. She also grabbed six rebounds and had two assists. Hall marked a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds, while Ryanne Brockhaus had 13 points and six assists. Krista Rabenberg recorded four more blocked shots, making it nine on the weekend. She also had six rebounds. The Wolves shot 39.3% from the field.
Bemidji State was led by Amy Lawson who came off the bench for 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Heidi Matzke had 13 points and six rebounds. The Beavers shot a meager 33.3% from the field and 25.0% from three-point range. They out-rebounded the Wolves 45-42.
