Bismark, N.D. – The Northern State women's basketball team was handed just their third loss of the season tonight, falling to the University of Mary 69-56 on the road. The Wolves are now 10-3 overall and 6-3 in the NSIC, while the Marauders improve to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in league play.

NSU took the early lead in the contest, winning the first quarter by a score of 20-13. The Marauders bounced back in the next ten minutes by
holding the Wolves to eight points in quarter two. The two teams headed into the half with a score of 31-28 in favor of U-Mary.

The Marauders maintained the lead throughout the entire second half, notching their largest lead of 16 points with 46 seconds remaining in the game.

Northern State shot 38.1 percent from the floor, 15.0 percent from the three-point arc and 100.0 percent from the charity line. U-Mary on the other hand, answered by shooting 51.2 percent from field goal range, 52.6 percent from the arc and 68.2 percent from the foul line.

The Wolves tallied 24 points in the paint, 12 points off turnovers, 10 second chance points and eight points off the bench. As a unit, NSU nabbed nine steals, 16 assists and forced 16 turnovers. Each team collected 31 total rebounds.

Jill Conrad led the Wolves offensively, shooting 10-of-17 from field goal range and 2-of-2 from the foul line for 23 total points. Conrad also collected a team-high eight rebounds. Mirada Ristau followed up with nine points and five rebounds, while Gabby Laimer recorded eight points and two assists.

Paige Waytashek and Anika Fredrick each tallied six points, and Bethany Crosswait led the team with four steals.

Northern State will continue action on the road tomorrow evening, taking on Minot State at 4 p.m. with the men's game to follow.