Jan. 7, 2000

It was a slugfest between two of the best in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the North Central Region. When it was all said and done, Minnesota-Duluth held serve on its homecourt with an 84-77 win Friday night.

The win stopped a 14-game winning streak for NSU (14-2 overall, 4-1 NSIC). The Wolves came into the game ranked first in the North Central Region and 17th in the nation. UMD was ranked 10th in the North Central Region and received votes nationally.

Senior guards Jammie Coyle (Belle Fourche) and Amanda Mikuska (Platte) kept the Wolves in the game throughout, with Coyle scoring a game-high 28 points and Mikuska adding 17 to go with a team-high five assists. Junior post Jennifer Murphy (Aberdeen) led NSU on the boards with seven rebounds. Sue Fiero led UMD (9-3, 4-0) with 22 points.

The rematch: Feb. 12, Wachs Arena, 5:30 p.m. If both teams finish the season like they expect to, the rematch should determine the regular season conference championship and could be a factor in regional poll positioning for post-season play. One thing is for sure: it will be another tooth-and-nail battle in a great basketball rivalry between two powerhouse programs. UMD and NSU are tied at 15 games apiece in the teams' all-time series.