Wolves Scratch Their Way To 68-63 Win Over CCU


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LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The Northern State women’s basketball team pulled off their second straight win of the season Friday night at the Colorado Christian Tournament. The score was tight throughout the game and the Wolves rallied from a marginal halftime deficit to pull off the 68-63 win over the Lady Cougars of Colorado Christian.

It was a slow rolling beginning to NSU’s first game of the weekend. With just seven combined points scored in the first five minutes and 24 points in the first ten minutes, it was no surprise that both teams’ shooting averages were far below the normal range. Things started to heat up in the last ten minutes as the roundball finally found its target. Before the half would end, the Wolves would increase their shooting percentage to 40%.

Jessica Deinert stretched the score out for the first time in the game by sinking a three-pointer at the 6:10 mark, putting NSU up 20-14. The lead would not last, however, as the Lady Cougars slowly nipped at the deficit and used a three-pointer of their own to take the lead back with just under a minute remaining. A jumper in the lane at the buzzer put Colorado Christian up by three at the half, 32-29.

Carolin Becker got the scoring started in the Wolves first possession of the second half, sinking an inside shot to narrow the score to 32-31. Both teams used an inside game for their primary scoring, with ten straight points coming from inside the paint. The look changed when CCU’s Abby Rosenthal stepped beyond the arc to sink a three-pointer, which put her team up 40-35 at the 15:35 mark.

The Wolves took back the game with a momentum-swinging 12-2 run in the next five minutes, the first real scoring run of the game. Noelle Hall started the scoring with a bucket in the paint, and was assisted by four points from Carolin Becker and a set of long range hits from Casey Gifford and Miranda Boepple. The Wolves were up 49-44 with ten minutes left to play.

The final stretch of the game was excruciating, with both teams scratching for points and looking for a win. The Wolves and Cougars traded buckets, turnovers, and fouls and the score remained tight. A fastbreak layup by Hall gave NSU a 64-57 lead with three minutes to play. The Cougars answered with two points in the paint, followed by two accurate Boepple free throws, maintaining the seven point lead. CCU converted four unanswered points to get back to within three with one minute left, but the Wolves pulled out the victory by finishing with strong defense, gaining offensive and defensive rebounds, as well as a blocked shot. Northern let out a sigh of relief as the buzzer sounded, taking the win 68-63.

As with the score of the game, the statistics between the Wolves and Cougars were strikingly similar. NSU picked up their average 40% first half shooting effort by going 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the field in the second half, finishing with a respectable field goal percentage of 46.3%. The difference in the score came from Colorado Christian shooting 39.0% from the field in the game. CCU had the edge in rebounding, 38-34. Both teams had an assortment of turnovers, CCU with 21 and NSU with 18. Northern was much more effective in turning CCU errors into points, however, scoring 27 points from Cougar turnovers.

Noelle Hall hit ten field goals to finish the game with 22 points. She tied Carolin Becker for the lead in rebounds with nine. Becker also tallied 11 points. Miranda Boepple had 16 points in the game, including two threes and a six-of-six free throw shooting performance.

Colorado Christian’s Talmai Aguirre led her team with 18 points and five rebounds, followed by Abby Rosenthal with 16 points and seven rebounds.

The Wolves improve to 2-0 on the season while the season-opening loss for the Cougars drops them to 0-1. Northern continues their weekend in Lakewood, CO tomorrow afternoon with a 5:00 pm CT game against the Colorado School of Mines.

 

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