Dec. 4, 1999

For the second time this year, Northern State handed a North Central Conference school its first loss of the season. Saturday night in Brookings, it was the Wolves handing previously unbeaten South Dakota State (5-1) a 65-63 overtime defeat at Frost Arena. Earlier this season, the Wolves edged University of South Dakota in Vermillion in what was the Coyotes’ first loss.

Junior post Beth Carlson (Coon Rapids, Minn.) was the hero for the Wolves, staying with it after getting her first game-winning shot attempt in overtime rejected. Carlson calmly recovered the rebuffed shot from eight feet on the left baseline and drained her second attempt from the same area with 1.7 seconds remaining.

Making the game-winner even sweeter for Carlson was a shot the junior post took during the waning seconds of regulation that rimmed out as time expired. Carlson ended with 10 points on the night.

The Jackrabbits dominated the first three minutes of the extra period, and things looked bleak for a Wolves team facing a six-point deficit and deafening crowd with two minutes remaining.

Enter All-American candidate Jammie Coyle (Belle Fourche). After the Wolves whittled the lead to three points with less than a minute remaining, Coyle took a cross-court bullet pass from junior forward Memory Johannsen (Tolstoy) and drilled a 3-pointer to tie the score at 63-63. Coyle ended with a game-high 20 points. Johannsen netted 12, including the team’s first six of the game to get the Wolves off on the right track.

In a hard-fought first half, the Wolves managed a 35-31 lead. NSU would keep that slim lead through most of the second half. With neither team shooting particularly well, rebounding was key. NSU outboarded SDSU 52-44 and 19-14 on the offensive glass. Junior forward Natalie Braun (Warner) again led the Wolves on the boards, pulling down eight to go with her eight points.