Dec. 30, 1998

For the first time in head coach Curt Fredrickson's 20-year tenure, Northern State lost five consecutive games. The last in that run came in a hard-fought 57-61 decision at Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Wednesday night.

The Vikings (9-2) staved off a second-half run by Northern (4-8) to defend homecourt. Kim Meyer led Augie with 20 points, including four timely 3-pointers.

For NSU, junior guard Jammie Coyle (Belle Fourche, S.D.) scored 27 points for the second straight game and made key shots to pull the Wolves close down the stretch, but NSU would only get as close as three points in the final minute of play. Senior center Crystal Bonnichsen (Highmore, S.D.) led NSU on the boards with 13 to go along with 11 points. Junior Amanda Mikuska (Platte, S.D.) ended with 10 boards from her point guard position to go along with six assists.

Next up for NSU is a home date against the Northland College Lumberjills Wednesday, Jan. 6. Conference season begins next weekend at home against Bemidji State (Saturday, Jan. 9). Both games are slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.