BOX SCORE
ABERDEEN, S.D. – After a heartbreaking loss the night before, the Northern State Wolves looked to have had the chairs pulled out from under them Saturday, and fell behind the visiting Augustana College Vikings early on their way to dropping a 79-57 NSIC conference matchup at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
The loss drops the Wolves to 13-12 overall, and 9-9 in the Northern Sun. The loss drops them back into a three-way tie for seventh place with Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State. Minnesota State won in the only conference meeting between the two squads and Southwest Minnesota State won the only matchup between the two teams earlier this season.
The Vikings got hot from the field early and often in building an insurmountable 40-21 advantage at the break behind 43.3% shooting from the field (13-30) including 9-18 from downtown.
The Wolves, on the other hand, had trouble putting the ball in the hoop and shot just 27.6% from the field in the first half (8-29) and just 1-4 from three-point land (25%).
The second half had closer numbers scoring-wise, but the lead the Vikings had built during the first half could not be overcome. Although the Wolves held a strong rebounding margin 43-33, with ten more offensive rebounds, but their 15 turnovers compared to just eight by Augustana left those extra opportunities null and void.
The Wolves were led in scoring by junior Krista Rabenberg's 14 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor. She also notches seven rebounds on the night and blocked three Augustana shots.
Jodi Reinschmidt was the only other member of the team in double-figures, recording her fifth double-double of the season with a 10-point, 10-rebound performance. She finished going 3-11 from the floor with two assists and a block on the night.
The Wolves' matchups don't get any easier down the stretch, having to face the MSU Moorhead Dragons in Moorhead, Minn. before hosting Southwest Minnesota State on Feb. 27th at Wachs Arena in a game which could be a play-in contest to get into the NSIC tournament. The Wolves are 0-1 against both teams this season.
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**
