BOX SCORE
ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University women's basketball team used stingy first half defense to build a commanding 20-point halftime lead in downing the visiting University of Mary Marauders by an 81-55 final to sweep the season series between the two NSIC travel partners.
The win improves the Wolves to 13-10 overall on the year and 9-7 in the Northern Sun. With the win, the Wolves move out of a three-way tie for seventh into soul possession of sixth place in the conference with the losses Saturday by Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State.
The Wolves jumped out to an early 16-1 lead through the first 9:25 of the game behind nine points from sophomore Mikayla Barondeau who finished the game with one of her better stat lines in a Northern State uniform.
The Marauders inability to get the ball in the hoop (19 points, 19.2% shooting) during the first half was due in large part to the inside presence of Krista Rabenberg, who notched five blocks in the game.
The second half proved to be similar to the first in that the Wolves were able to outshoot the Marauders both inside and outside the three point line en route to earning a 26-point victory.
Sophomore Mikayla Barondeau continues to make a case for First Team All-NSIC honors with another outstanding performance to lead the Wolves. The Frederick, S.D. native notched 18 points on 7-13 shooting, including 3-4 from behind the three-point line. She added 11 rebounds to give her the seventh double-double of the season and 13th of her career, and her career-high nine assists left her one shy of her first career triple double. Her nine assists were only countered by two turnovers, and she also added a steal before exiting the game for good with six minutes to go.
Fellow sophomore Emily Becken also continues to make her case for an All-Conference bid with a 19-point effort on 7-13 shooting, including 5-9 from deep. She added six rebounds, six assists (compared to just one turnover) and one steal in 31 minutes of action.
A third sophomore, Colleen Doerr, set a new career-high with 14 points on 5-10 shooting from the field, including 2-4 from downtown. She added three rebounds in 18 minutes on the court.
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**
