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ABERDEEN, S.D. – Despite starting the night with two starters in street clothes with nagging injuries, Northern State and head coach Curt Fredrickson went to a talented and deep bench of freshmen and sophomores and came up with a big 84-39 home-opening victory over Presentation College Wednesday evening in non-conference women's basketball action.
 
The Wolves shook off an early-season setback in their last outing with a 44.1 percent shooting effort – including a 10-for-17 effort from long range – to improve to 4-1 on the season while handing the visiting Saints their third straight loss to open their season.
 
NSU was led by freshman Sadie Stotesbery, who led all players with 13 points in her first career start.  Stotesbery stepped in to the starting lineup in place of senior Jenna Higgins, who, along with senior Brittany Euerle, sat out the night with lingering injuries suffered last weekend.  The two are expected back in the line-up when the Wolves open conference play next weekend.
 
Stotesbery was joined in double figures by senior Emily Becken, who scored five of the team's first seven points on the night to become the 27^th person in NSU women's basketball history to join the 1,000-point club.  Becken finished the night with 11 points and four assists in 16 minutes of play.
 
All 15 players to see court time for the Wolves finished in the scoring column, and eight of the fifteen drained at least one three-point attempt.  NSU also came up big on the rebounds, led by sophomore Rachel Krogman's eight-point, ten-rebound effort.  The Wolves nearly doubled up the Saints in rebounds, finishing with a 50-28 edge in total rebounds and a 20-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
 
NSU opened up a quick 10-2 lead in the first three minutes of play and never looked back.  The final 45-point margin of victory, in fact, marked the Wolves' largest lead of the night, spurred by a flurry of treys in the waning moments – three in the game's final minute by freshmen Tiana Kjerstad, Megan Mutchler and Sami Smith.
 
The Wolves held PC to just 14 second-half points on 4 of 25 shooting and 0-for-5 from long range.
 
Presentation was led by 11-point, five-rebound efforts from sophomore Hannah Phillips and junior Chelsea Vorhees.  Amanda Broin chipped in six points, all on free throws, as did Kelli Boekelheide, who scored the team's first four points of the night, but found the going rough in the inside against the Wolves' height.
 
With Wednesday's win, NSU's Fredrickson inched one win closer to career win number 700.  He now sits at 696 victories, needing just four more to become just the second coach in NCAA Division II history to reach the 700 win threshold.
 
The Wolves kick off Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on the road Dec. 2-3, taking on Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and St. Cloud State on Saturday before returning home to face Wayne State and Augustana on Dec. 9-10, respectively.