Jan. 26, 2001

After a back-and-forth game between two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference heavyweights that featured 15 ties and 16 lead changes, Northern State came up on the short end 75-80 Friday night at Southwest State in Marshall, Minn.

The Mustangs (15-3, 9-1 NSIC) kept their conference lead on SSU's "Hawaiian Night," -- a night reserved every year for the Northern State games -- but it was in doubt for most of the game. The Wolves controlled most of the first half and build a 10-point lead, but saw SSU storm back with an 11-0 run in the final three minutes of the frame to go into the locker rooms with a 33-32 advantage.

The Wolves (10-7, 6-3 NSIC) regrouped to take the lead again right away in the second half, and from there the game became a slugfest, with the teams trading leads for the duration. SSU looked to have the Wolves' number with a seven-point lead and three minutes remaining, but NSU kept coming. After a sweet spin move by senior forward Memory Johannsen (Tolstoy) cut the lead to five, fellow senior forward Natalie Braun (Warner) came up with a huge steal off SSU's best player in Andrea Schreier, then hit Holly Schaunaman for a fast-break layup to cut the lead to 75-72 with about two minutes remaining. After SSU hit two free-throws, Braun nailed a 3-pointer to cut the lead to just two points at 77-75 with 40 seconds remaining.

The Mustangs missed the second free throw on an ensuing foul but were given a present when three NSU players going for the rebound collided and the ball bounced to Schreier with 18 seconds left. The team captain, who carried her team throughout the game with 26 points and seven rebounds, hit the ensuing free-throws to ice the game.

SSU, playing without guard Erin Frye, also received more than enough surprise heroics from guard Nicole Bullock to make up for the senior's absence. Bullock scored 16 points; 15 of which came in the second half. She also came up with six rebounds on the night.

NSU had four players break into the double-digit scoring column, led by Johannsen's 12 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Junior forward Shanna Dahl (St. Cloud, Minn.) also netted 12 points. Braun added 11, while freshman guard Carin Rambow (Litchfield, Minn.) chipped in 10.

Both teams played well, with SSU shooting 55 percent from the field on the night to NSU's 47 percent. The difference in the game may have been the Mustangs' frequent trips to the line. SSU ended up 26-of-36 from the charity stripe, while NSU was 7-of-10.