January 5, 2001

A horrendous start cost Northern State its first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference its first loss at the expense of defending league champion Minnesota-Duluth Friday night in Aberdeen. With the 74-57 win, the nationally-ranked Bulldogs improved to 7-5 overall and 4-0 in the NSIC, while Northern dropped to 8-5 overall and 4-1 in league play.

The Wolves played Duluth even in the second half, but were in a huge hole from the outset as Duluth jumped out to a 27-11 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game and led 43-26 at halftime. In the second half, Northern mustered mini-surges but came no closer than 12 points. For the game, NSU shot just 38 percent from the field and 19 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Duluth shot a scorching 50 percent from long range (13-of-26) and tied a school record for 3-pointers made in a game, which ironically was set before in a game the Bulldogs played against NSU.

Senior Memory Johannsen (Tolstoy) led the Wolves with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Fellow senior Jennifer Murphy (Aberdeen) led the way in the post with 10 points. Junior point guard Sara Hemquist (Baxter, Minn.) also posted a solid game with eight points and six rebounds off the bench. UMD had a balanced attack, with five players reaching double digits in points, led by Laura Hanson's 15.

Northern will look to get back on track Saturday night against touring Bemidji State, which earned its first win of the season at Minnesota-Morris Friday.