Dec. 8th, 2006 -Aberdeen, S.D.	1st	2nd	Final	Records
Wayne State	33	33	66	6-2, 1-2 NSIC
Northern State University	33	39	72	8-1, 3-0 NSIC

 

Wolves Take 72-66 Home Opener Win



Melissa Braaten scored a career high 17 points in NSU's home opener win Friday night

December 8, 2006
ABERDEEN, S.D. - Melissa Braaten (Stillwater, MN) led the Northern State women's basketball team to a home opener 72-66 win over Wayne State Friday night at Wachs Arena. The win keeps the Wolves undefeated in the NSIC with a 3-0 record and improves their overall mark to 8-1. The Wildcats fall to 6-2 overall and 1-2 in the NSIC. Braaten posted a career high 17 points.

The Wolves made the first separation of the game after a dizzying first ten minutes when the game clock ran almost without stop. Coming out of a media timeout, Melissa Braaten (Stillwater, MN) sunk back-to-back three-pointers to put the Wolves up 22-18. The Wildcats answered with a 7-2 run to take back the lead, 24-26 with 5:57 to play. Northern took back the lead for a time and relied on their defense to maintain the edge, as their offense became plagued with turnovers. Wayne connected on free throws in the final minute of the half to tie things up 33-33 at the half.

Braaten marked a career high 12 points in the first half alone, hitting 4-of-5 long range shots. NSU shot 37.8% (14-37) to WSC's 33.3% (10-30). They also had a commanding lead in rebounds, grabbing 28 boards and limiting Wayne to just 16. The difference in scoring came at the charity stripe, where the Wildcats had 11 opportunities and scored 10 times in the first half. Northern went 0-for-2 from the stripe.

Both teams went for layups and shots in the paint in the opening minutes of the second half. Northern scored on field goals while Wayne State continued to reach the free throw line time after time. Braaten hit her fifth three-pointer of the night to give the Wolves a four-point cushion, 42-38 with 14:06 to play. Five points from Carolin Becker and a jumper from Noelle Hall gave the Wolves a 7-point run and 11 point lead, 49-38.

NSU fouls and turnovers got the Wildcats back to within five points near the three minute mark, giving the Wolves' undefeated NSIC record a scare. Consecutive backdoor feeds to Carolin Becker added four NSU points, while a three-pointer and two free throws for Wayne State made it a 66-62 game with one minute to play. Wayne went to the fouling game, taking advantage of an extremely low NSU charity stripe average. Although they struggled earlier in the game hitting just 4-of-11 shots, the Wolves hit five of their last six shots to seal the win, 72-66.

"We seemed a little nervous since we hadn't played at home yet and most of the players had a lot of family in the crowd," said NSU head coach Curt Fredrickson of the Wolves first half. "Braaten did a nice job in the first half and kept us in the game. Our front line also had a good game. They have been playing well all year and had a great second half."

Braaten's career high 17 points came from 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the line. She also tied her career rebounding mark with six boards. Becker and Hall finished the night just shy of double-doubles with 17 and 16 points each, respectively, and nine rebounds each. Boepple had 10 points and five assists. NSU shot 45.2% from the field (28-62) and dominated the boards with 47.

Wayne State was led by Andrea Schoepf and Erin McCormick with 18 and 17 points, respectively. The team shot 35.2% from the field (19-54) and had 29 rebounds.

NSU returns to action tomorrow night as they host Southwest Minnesota State University at 6:00 pm.

 

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