Dec. 15, 1999

The Wolves weathered a storm Wednesday night in Wachs Arena. But when it all cleared the Wolves had notched their 10th straight win, a 74-66 victory over previously unbeaten Augustana College. The aftermath: NSU ended up handing a fourth North Central Conference team its first loss of the season despite shooting just 29 percent from the field.

Previously undefeated and 26th-ranked Augustana College (6-1) came to Aberdeen with thoughts knocking No. 21 Northern (10-1) off of its first-ever stay as the No. 1 team in the nation's toughest region. The Wolves were ranked the top team in the North Central Region -- which houses the last seven NCAA II national champions -- Wednesday afternoon but the way Augustana (ranked 9th in the same regional poll) started the game, they looked like the team to beat.

The Vikings were a perfect 7-of-7 during the first six minutes of the game and stormed to a 19-7 lead while the Wolves came out of the gates misfiring. Augustana dictated the first half, leading by as many as 15 points, but Northern hung around and came to within striking distance at 35-30 going into the locker rooms.

In the second half, the Wolves methodically chipped away during the first few minutes then went on an 8-0 run -- capped on a jumper by senior guard Amanda Mikuska (Platte) -- to take their first lead of the game at 42-40 with 14 minutes, 30 seconds to play. The Wolves would build an 11-point lead from there but saw it crumble to three points with under five minutes to play.

But then, just as in the team's last game at Southwest State, Mikuska stepped to the fore and took the heart out of a comeback attempt with daggers from dowtown. In this case, it was back-to-back 3-pointers that turned a three-point lead into a nine-point bulge that forced Augustana to take a timeout to stop the bleeding. From there, the key to victory became a matter of hitting free throws down the stretch. Mikuska, senior guard Jammie Coyle (Belle Fourche) and junior post Jennifer Murphy (Aberdeen) were up to the task.

Lost in Mikuska's heroics was another solid game from junior forward Natalie Braun (Warner), who kept the Wolves in the game throughout by being the only starter on the team to shoot anywhere near 50 percent for the night. Braun finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting and hauled in nine rebounds. Mikuska and Coyle netted 17 apiece, while Murphy chipped in 14 and was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. Coyle and Murphy also both posted double-doubles, with 10 and 13 rebounds, respectively. Murphy's board performance was a career best and included six offensive caroms.