WOLVES DUMP WINONA STATE IN FIRST ROUND OF NSIC TOURNAMENT; ADVANCE TO FACE DULUTH SATURDAY

Feb. 27, 2002

Rambow on the go -- NSU's Carin Rambow goes in for two against Winona State Wednesday.

Northern State, the third seed in the 2002 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, hosted sixth seed Winona State Wednesday night in NSU's Barnett Center.

The Wolves left little suspense as to which team would move on, rushing out to a 44-16 halftime lead and coasting to an 89-42 victory while holding Winona to just 23 percent shooting for the game.

The win means Northern will move on to the semifinal round of the NSIC Tournament in each of the three years of the event's existence. The semifinal and final rounds take place at neutral site Concordia-St. Paul Saturday and Sunday. NSU will face No. 2 seed Minnesota-Duluth, which upended Bemidji State Wednesday night in Duluth. The Wolves and Bulldogs, who split this season, will face off at noon Saturday. The winner will advance to the championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Northern was able to run 19 players into the game Wednesday night. Freshman guard Andrea Ronderos (Washburn, N.D.) led all scorers with 18 points to go with a game-high seven rebounds. Sophomore sharpshooter Carin Rambow (Litchfield, Minn.) rounded out NSU's double-digit scorers with 13 points, including a 3-of-3 performance from the 3-point line. Senior forward Shanna Dahl also pulled down seven rebounds. In all 16 of the 19 Wolves players to enter the game also entered the scoring column. Nicole Reisner led WSU with 13 points.

It was the final home game for NSU seniors Shanna Dahl, Holly Schaunaman, Amanda Dietrich, Sara Hemquist and Jodi Purath.