WOLVES COMPLETE SEASON SWEEP OF WINONA STATE

Jan. 25, 2002

Northern State didn't have a good night offensively, but the defense more than picked up the slack in a 59-48 win at Winona State Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

The Wolves (13-5, 8-2 NSIC) kept their share of the conference lead by holding the Warriors (9-9, 3-7 NSIC) to just 27 percent shooting (17-of-63) on their home court.

On the other end, Northern didn't exactly light up the scoreboard (22-of-65 for 34 percent), but hit enough big shots down the stretch to pick up the road win. Five straight points by sophomore guard Carin Rambow (Litchfield, Minn.) turned a tenuous three-point lead into eight points at 53-45 with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining. From there, the Wolves closed it out with more big defensive stops and hit their free-throws in the final minutes to ice the win.

Freshman post Natalie Hopkins (St. Louis Park, Minn.) was NSU's most consistent offensive force on the night, leading the team with 10 points. Senior point guard Holly Schaunaman (Leola, S.D.) was 3-of-11 from the field for eight points, but more than made up for her shooting woes with a team-high nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Nicole Reisner led WSU with 14 points and nine boards.

The top four teams in the NSIC will do battle Saturday night, with NSU traveling to Concordia-St. Paul (8-2 NSIC, T-1st with NSU). Meanwhile, Southwest State (8-2 NSIC, T-1st), the other team sharing the conference lead, hosts Minnesota-Duluth, which is just a game out of first (7-3 NSIC).