Dec. 8, 2000

After dropping its first four games of the season, Northern State is now on a four-game winning streak after defeating Wayne State (Neb.) 63-58 at home on opening night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

The Wolves (4-4 overall, 1-0 NSIC) boasted another balanced effort offensively, with 10 players breaking into the scoring column, led by freshman guard Carin Rambow's (Litchfield, Minn.) 14 points. Senior forward Memory Johannsen (Tolstoy) led the team in rebounding with eight boards to go with six assists and seven points. Fellow senior Jennifer Murphy (Aberdeen) was NSU's other double-digit point performer, putting up 12 points from the center position. Wayne State (4-3, 0-1) was led by Rochelle Sohl's 13 points.

NSU earned the win despite shooting just 33 percent from the field (21-of-64) and just 19 percent from 3-point range. The saving factor was their rebounding, especially on the offensive end, where the Wolves pulled down 19 offfensive rebounds.

Wayne State pulled to within one point with two minutes remaining, but senior forward Natalie Braun (Warner) answered to put the Wolves up 61-58 with 1:28 remaining and would grab a rebound on the other end of the floor with less than a minute to go to help seal the win. As the final minute unfolded, the Wolves came up big again defensively and Wayne was forced to foul but got ahold of the wrong person to send to the line in Rambow. With three seconds remaining, the freshman again put the game on ice with two free-throws to give the Wolves an insurmountable five-point lead.