BOX SCORE
ABERDEEN, S.D.- The Northern State women's basketball team used a balanced attack getting double-digit contributions from four players in the Wolves' 67-56 win over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate play.
Jodi Reinschmidt led Northern State with 16 points and nine rebounds, followed by
Krista Rabenberg with 15 points and 6 boards while
Emily Becken and
Alison Kusler poured in 13 points each. Kusler's 13 points was a career high for the freshman.
NSU rises to 11-5 overall and 7-4 in the NSIC while SMSU moves to 4-11 overall and 3-8 in the NSIC. The win gives the Wolves a 41-15 overall record against the Mustangs.
Both teams were tied at four a piece at the 16 minute mark of the first half when Rabenberg finshed a three-point play on an assist from Kusler to put NSU up 7-4. After two back-to-back jumpers in the paint and a score beyond the arc from Reinschmidt, the Wolves went up, 14-4.
SMSU answered back with two jumpers on the right wing from Heather Smith and Abby Kenealy cutting Northern's lead to six. The Mustangs got within three points of NSU on a lay-up from Tori Fink, but Kusler answered SMSU's run with her own five-point run with a three at 7:16 and a jumper just under a minute later to give the Wolves a 23-15 lead.
The Wolves scored six more points in the half to head to the locker room with a 29-22 lead.
NSU shot 33 percent on the half led by Kusler and Rabenberg with seven a piece. Reinschmidt contributed six points in the half while Becken added five.
SMSU made a 8-4 run in the first five minutes of the second half to get within three at 16 minutes. NSU countered with its own 14-9 run including eight points from Reinschmidt to go up 47-39 at the 8:20 mark.
The Wolves gained their largest lead of the half with over five minutes remaining when Kusler capitalized on a one-and-one opportunity nailing both free-throws to give NSU an 11 point lead.
That lead quickly diminished when a pair of free throws from SMSU's Heather Smith cut Northern's lead to just four around two and a half minutes as a part of a 8-2 run.
Brittany Euerle put the Wolves' up by eight when she hit a pair from the charity stripe with a minute left in the game and the score at 61-53. Six more free throws in the final minute of the game gave NSU an 11 point lead at the end of regulation.
NSU finished the game shooting 37 percent, hitting 19 of 51, while SMSU went 20 of 52 to finish at 38 percent. The Wolves missed just one free-throw in the contest hitting 26 of 27.
The Wolves will be at home at Wachs Arena again next weekend when they host the University of Mary on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
