Aberdeen, S.D. – After a pair of losses on the road, the Northern State University women's basketball team bounces back to collect a 20-point victory tonight over St. Cloud State. With the 78-58 win from Wachs Arena, the Wolves improve to 12-5 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC, while the Huskies drop to 8-9 overall and 6-7 in league play.

Northern State went on an early run, outscoring SCSU 23-12 in the first quarter. The Wolves extended their lead in the second quarter, notching an additional 22 points and heading into the half with the 55-27 advantage.

SCSU tallied 31 second half points, however it was not enough as the Wolves gained their largest lead of 24 points with 3:30 remaining in the final quarter. As a unit, Northern State outshot SCSU with a shooting percentage of 40.7 from the floor, 36.4 from the arc and 66.7 from the foul line. The Wolves earned 26 points in the paint, 20 points off turnovers, 22 second chance points and 29 points off the bench.

Northern State collected 47 rebounds, 16 assists, seven steals and four blocks as a team. Of the 12 players making appearances for NSU, four ended the night scoring in double-digits. Miranda Ristau led the Wolves shooting 6-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. Ristau also led the team with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Paige Waytashek followed with 13 points, while Jill Conrad and Brianna Kusler tallied 12 and 11 points respectively. Gabby Laimer, Brianna Kusler and Bethany Crosswait each recorded three assists.

NSU will continue action from home tomorrow against Minnesota Duluth at 4 p.m., with the men's game to follow.