Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Led by a career-high 23 points from senior forward Jodi Reinschmidt – her third straight 20-point effort – the Northern State University Wolves powered their way past St. Cloud State University 71-60 Saturday night to emerge from the opening weekend of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play atop the league standings.

The win, NSU's fourth straight, boosts the Wolves' record to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference games.  Only Wayne State and MSU Moorhead accomplished the same feat and join the Wolves in the 2-0 club.  The back-to-back wins marks the first time since the 2007-08 season that the Wolves have started 2-0 in conference play.

With the loss, SCSU slipped to 4-2 on the year and an even 1-1 in the league.

After a relatively slow start out of the gates, the Wolves took a 14-13 lead on a pair of Jacqee Jasinski free throws with 11:53 left in the half and never looked back.  Reinschmidt had 19 of her 23 points in the first half alone, and scored 16 of the Wolves' first 24 points of the game.

As the Huskies clamped down on Reinschmidt's efforts in the second half, junior Mikayla Barondeau stepped in to fill the void, quietly producing an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.    The duo finished the night with a combined 34 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two turnovers.

SCSU, despite its hot start to the night, cooled off significantly in the last 30 minutes of the game and shot the ball at just a 31.0 percent (18 of 58) clip on the night.  The Huskies were just 7 of 22 from three-point range as a team.

The Wolves made the Huskies pay for their shooting woes throughout the game.  NSU pulled down 46 rebounds while holding SCSU to just 28 boards.  The Wolves also gave up just eight second-chance points.

SCSU sophomore Amanda Wagner paced the Huskies with a consistent night, scoring 17 points and draining three of the team's seven treys.  Morgan Lof added 11 points off the bench, all in the second half, while redshirt freshman Sam Price put up 10 points, eight of which came in the first half.

The Huskies lost their starting strong forward Jessica Benson to injury early in the second half.  Benson did not return and finished with five points and four rebounds.

In addition to Reinschmidt and Barondeau, the Wolves got 11 points and nine boards from senior Krista Rabenberg and another nine points and four assists from junior Emily Becken.  Jasinski came off the bench to chip in eight points and three assists and hit two of her three attempts from long range.

The Wolves put their unblemished conference mark to the flame test next weekend when they face the two teams picked to finish first and second in the preseason coaches poll.  NSU tips off at Wayne State on Friday at 6 p.m., then takes the court at 4 p.m. at Augustana on Saturday.  WSC and the Vikings were tabbed to finish 1-2, respectively, in that preseason poll.