Feb. 24th, 2007 - Bismarck, ND	1st	2nd	Final	Records
Northern State	27	41	68	19-8, 12-6 NSIC
University of Mary	34	38	72	14-13, 10-8 NSIC

2007 NSIC Tournament Brackets

Northern Misses Chance To Move Up In Rankings

February 24, 2007
BISMARCK, N.D.- The theme for this NSIC-closing weekend seemed to be top teams dropping games on the road, and for the Wolves, it was no different as they lost to the University of Mary 72-68 Saturday night. The three leading squads in the NSIC, Concordia-St. Paul, MSU Moorhead, and Northern State, combined for four out of five losses this last weekend of regular season play. The Wolves finished the regular season in third place and will host Bemidji State in the first round of the NSIC tournament on Wednesday, February 28 at 6:00 pm.

Following a first half in which Mary completely shut down NSU’s top players, led by as many as 10 points and took a 34-27 halftime lead, the Wolves picked up the pace and figured out how to get their main scorers more involved. Hall was held scoreless the first half, while Boepple and Becker had just three points each. The trio finished the game with 26 combined points, while NSU guards helped cover the slack with outside shots. Northern hit ten three-pointers in the game, including three each from Jessica Deinert and Allison Johnson.

It didn’t take the Wolves more than two minutes to trim the halftime deficit down to just two points, 34-32, following back-to-back treys from Braaten and Boepple. The margin went back to 11 points just a few minutes later, but the Wolves began to find their rhythm, picking up offensive boards time after time and going to their outside shooters to close the gap. Freshman guard Johnson was key to NSU’s comeback as she hit all three of her triples within four game minutes, giving Northern the lead for the first time in the second half at the 4:44 mark.

A heated battle ensued for the remainder of the game, with the lead changing nine times. A sleeping bear was awoken in Noelle Hall, who scored eight points in the final 3:10 of the game. But Mary’s offense came at the Wolves in full strength and from all angles. Corrie Villegas, the NSIC’s leading scorer, dumped in buckets from the paint while Lisa Guss celebrated a birthday by hitting 13-of-14 free throws. Ashley Fridley could not be stopped from the outside, where she hit 4-of-4 second half three-pointers. UM nailed 7-of-8 long range shots in the final half.

The Wolves were down 67-66 and had a chance to take the game in the final 1:30, but their nerves got the best of them. Northern missed two three-point attempts and a layup and also had a turnover as they were forced to foul the Marauders, who shot 91.3% from the stripe in the game. Mary, ineligible for postseason play, ended their season with a 72-68 win.

The Wolves were led by Deinert with 14 points following a 5-of-6 shooting performance. Braaten, Hall, and Becker each added 10 points and Becker led the team on the boards with eight. Northern shot 45.5 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 19 times. They also led in the rebounding column, 32-27.

UM's Guss topped all players with 16 points, followed by Kayla Rogers with 15 points after nailing 5-of-6 three-pointers. Ashley Fridley hit all four of her long range attempts and finished the game with 14 points, while Nicci Lanndeck had 10 points and a team high eight rebounds. The Marauders shot 44.4% from the field and had 15 turnovers, but came up with 11 steals on the night.

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