Box Score

FAYETTE, Iowa – The Northern State women's basketball team rang in the New Year by overcoming a 14 point deficit to the Upper Iowa University Peacocks in the first half and riding Emily Becken's game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to put a W in the win column.  The Wolves improved their record to 7-4 (4-3 NSIC) while the Peacocks drop to 1-9 (1-5 NSIC).

The Wolves, ironically, started the game off with a Becken 3-pointer to take a 3-2 lead, which they would hold until the 12:15 mark in the first half, when the Peacocks would slowly inch away to a 14 point lead with 1:35 left in the first half.  The Wolves would cut that deficit to 10 by the end of the first half, going into the break down 27-37. In the first half the Wolves shot only 36.7 percent (11-30) from the field while the Peacocks were able to knock down 53.6 percent (15-28) of their shots.

Krista Rabenberg got the Wolves started in the second half by knocking down a jumper in the paint to cut into the deficit immediately.  The Wolves continued to chip into the Peacock lead before tying the game at 52 apiece with 10:33 left in the game, then finally taking the lead 53-52 with 10:08 left on the clock on a Jenna Higgins free throw. The Wolves would increase their lead to 3 before UIU's Jeri Jacobson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game back up with 8:11 left on the clock.  The teams would battle through three more ties and four more lead changes before the end of the night.

The Peacocks took their final lead of the game when Lana Otting drained a 3-point field goal with 55 seconds left to make it 67-66.  The Wolves quickly regained the lead when Jodi Reinschmidt found Becken on a layup-and-one 16 seconds later to go up 69-67. The Peacocks would try to regain lead on a 3-pointer by Heidi McKean, which was off the mark, but Carrie Thoma grabbed the offense board for the Peacocks and put it back in to tie the game at 69 all with 24 seconds left on the clock.

Now a one-possession game, the Wolves brought the ball to midcourt and called a timeout with six seconds left, to draw up the final play. Becken took the in-bounds pass from Mikayla Barondeau and dribbled off of a screen from Rabenberg just on the right side on the top of the key where she found enough space to get off the game-winning shot and end the game the same way she started it, swishing a 3-pointer, sending the Wolves to victory.

Four Wolves scored in double figures, led by Reinschmidt who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting.  Becken, Barondeau, and Rabenberg added 16, 13, and 12 points, respectively.  NSU won the battle of the boards by collecting 32 total, led by Barondeau who had 11, for her fifth double-double on the season.  Brittany Euerle had six assists to tie for the team high along with Barondeau.

The Peacocks were led in scoring by Lana Otting who went 9-for-12 from the floor for 23 points, which also consisted of 5-5 behind the 3-point arc.

The Wolves shot much better in the second half as they hit 16-30 for 53.5 percent, ending the game at 45 percent.  The Peacocks had their shooting percentage drop to 46.4 percent on 26 of 56 shooting.

The Wolves return to action tomorrow night against the Winona State Warriors at 6 p.m. in Winona, Minn.