BOX SCORE

BEMIDJI, Minn. -  The Northern State University women's basketball team continues to ride a hot streak by winning their fifth-straight game 84-73 over the Bemidji State Beavers tonight in Bemidji, Minn.

Since the return of their lone senior, Lennea Mueller, the Wolves have won five straight to improve their record to 8-7 on the season, and tonight's win moves them back to .500 in the conference at 4-4.

After falling behind by a 9-0 lead through the first 5:04 of the game, the Wolves went on a 33-12 run to take the lead 33-21 with four minutes remaining behind 16 points by junior center Krista Rabenberg.

The Wolves allowed the Beavers to mount a 20-6 run through the last four minutes of the first half to bring the score to 39-32 in favor of Northern State at halftime.

Rabenberg's 18 total first half points were enough to set season and career-high's for the Mobridge, S.D. native, and her strong inside presence was instrumental in giving the Wolves a lead at halftime for the 10th time this season.  The Wolves improved to 8-2 on the season when leading at halftime.

As much as the first half belonged to Rabenberg, the second half belonged to sophomore Mikayla Barondeau. 

The Wolves fell behind 50-43 at the 13:04 mark of the second half, but again took the lead back 55-53 at the 9:14 point, and never slowed in building a lead through the remainder of the game.

Mikayla Barondeau finished with a game-high 22 points and 20 rebounds in the game, giving her the first 20-20 game of her career and the first in the history of Northern State women's basketball.  Her 20 rebounds is just two shy of tying her school record she set against then #6 Minnesota State earlier this season.  She finished the night with 6-12 shooting including a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

Krista Rabenberg finished with 21 points on 9-15 shooting with eight rebounds.  She also kept up with her season average with three blocked shots in the win.

As a team the Wolves shot 43.3% from the field (29-67) and dominated inside for a 34-22 advantage inside the paint.  They also outrebounded the Beavers by a 50-33 advantage.

The Wolves will look to build on their winning streak and go for their sixth-straight win tomorrow in Duluth, Minn. when they take on the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

Northern State University is an NCAA Division II affiliated school participating in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is located in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

**GO WOLVES**