Nov. 17, 2000
After a dismal start, Northern State rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half and had a chance to win with two seconds on the clock, but didn't convert in a 62-61 loss to Morningside College Friday night at the NSU-Super 8 Tip-Off Classic in Aberdeen's Wachs Arena.
Wayne State College (Wayne, Neb.) won the early game over University of South Dakota 74-58, fueled by Karen Hochstein's double-double (25 points, 12 rebounds). Saturday night, the Wildcats will face Morningside at 5:30, followed by NSU and USD at 7:30. It is the first action of the season for each team.
The Wolves were paced by senior forward Memory Johannsen (Tolstoy), who netted a game-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Johannsen also pulled down six rebounds and led the team with six assists. No other player scored in double digits for the Wolves. Junior point guard Holly Schaunaman (Leola) led the team in rebounding with nine boards. Morningside welcomed back 1998-99 all-NCC performer Trish Martin, who sat out last season with a redshirt. Martin controlled the boards, pulling down 17 rebounds to go with nine points. Nickie Rotert led the team with 18 points.
After trailing the entire game, the Wolves made an impressive run in the last eight minutes and almost pulled it out. NSU outscored MC 18-4 in that stretch, with seniors Johannsen, Natalie Braun (Warner) and Jennifer Murphy (Aberdeen) all making big plays in the final minutes, but it wasn't enough. Morningside broke up NSU's inbound pass with two seconds remaining to seal the victory. NSU shot just 24 percent in the first half and went into the locker rooms with a 40-24 deficit.