Feb. 2nd , 2007 -Marshall, MN	1st	2nd	Final	Records
#18 Northern State	31	17	48	16-5, 9-3 NSIC
Southwest Minnesota State	33	20	53	6-15, 3-9 NSIC

Road Woes Continue For Northern Women

February 2 , 2007
MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State’s Sara Leidall hit a clutch three-pointer in the final minute of the game to seal a 53-48 upset over #18 Northern State Friday night in Marshall, MN. This is the fourth straight road loss for the Northern State women this season. The Wolves shot just 28.1 percent from the field, their second lowest shooting performance of the season, and scored a season low 48 points. The Mustangs improve to 6-15 overall and 3-9 in the NSIC while the Wolves drop to 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the league.

The Mustangs, who have shot just 34.9 percent from the field in conference games this season, opened the game with a higher mark against the Wolves on Friday night. They shot 42.9 percent in the first half (12-28) while Northern put a mark of just 37.9 percent (11-29) in the books. Southwest Minnesota State’s Sara Leidall had the hot hand for the home team with 16 first half points, while the Wolves spread the scoring out among their top three players.

Northern State began to find holes in the zone defense for points in the paint midway through the half and seemingly took control of the game. Every time Northern began to open a lead, however, Southwest answered with a long range shot or got to the line with an NSU foul. The Mustangs took the lead back in the waning minutes of the half before marking a score of 33-31 at halftime.

Points were hard to come by in the second half, especially for the Wolves. Northern started the half 0-14 from the field and stopped a more than 12 minute scoring draught with a Celia Westphal field goal at the 13 minute mark. The Mustangs did not have much more luck, but maintained their lead and stretched it to double figures with just over six minutes left in regulation. If not for NSU’s sizeable edge in the rebounding column, the game could very well have been put out of reach for the NSIC leaders.

Shots began to fall for the Wolves in the final minutes of the game and, with three minutes to play, Northern got back to within four points, 50-46. The game remained scoreless until the one minute mark when Allison Johnson drove through the lane and dished the ball to Noelle Hall, who laid in the deuce to set the score at 50-48. With the shot clock down to just two seconds on the next possession, SMSU’s Leidall hit a clutch three-pointer to put the Mustangs up by five. There were not enough ticks left on the clock for the Wolves to take the game back and the #18 team in the nation fell 53-48.

Northern had two players finish the game with double doubles. Noelle Hall ( Altura, MN) had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Miranda Boepple ( Dickinson, ND) added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Only three other Wolves players scored in the game.

Sara Leidall had a big night for the Mustangs, dumping in 21 points from 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-4 three-pointers, and also pulling down 10 rebounds. Heidi Kimmes scored a career high 13 points. Point guard Andrea Fennern dished out six assists for the Mustangs. Southwest overcame a 35-54 rebounding deficit in the win.

The loss ends a five-game winning streak for the Wolves and is the first time that NSU has dropped a decision to Southwest Minnesota State in five games. Northern will return to action tomorrow night as they take on Wayne State on the road.

 

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