Box Score #20 Northern State 81 Wayne State 71

            #20 Northern State snapped a 13-game regular season losing streak to Wayne State College dating back to 2008 by using 61 percent shooting in the first half to take down the Wildcats 81-71 Friday evening in a Northern Sun Conference women's basketball game played at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, South Dakota.  The Wolves improve to 14-2 overall and 10-1 in the NSIC with their first regular season win over WSC since February 1, 2008 (61-56) while WSC drops to 14-5 and 8-3 in league play.
            Wayne State never led in the contest.  The host Wolves took a 7-2 lead 2:30 into the contest.  The Wildcats got as close as one at 15-14 on a Maggie Schulte 3-pointer at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter, but the Wolves closed the quarter with the final four points for a 19-14 lead.
            Northern State took their first double digit lead of the game with the first five points of the second quarter at 24-14.  With NSU leading 29-19, the Wolves used hot shooting and a 10-0 run to take a 39-19 advantage before finishing the first half with a 41-28 lead.
            The Wolves ended the first half making 61.3 percent from the field (19 of 31) while WSC was held to just 34 percent shooting on 11 of 32.
            Wayne State outscored NSU 21-20 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 61-49 after three quarters of play.
            The host Wolves maintained a double digit lead the remainder of the game and after WSC got as close as eight (79-71) with 33 seconds to play Northern State finished with an 81-71 victory.
            Senior forward Maggie Schulte led Wayne State in scoring with 22 points, going 8 for 16 from the field.  Senior center Paige Ballinger also hit double figures with 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field and 6 for 7 at the line.
            WSC made just 23 of 60 shots from the field for 38.3 percent, going 6 for 18 behind the arc, along with 19 for 23 (82.6%) at the free throw line.
            Miranda Ristau powered Northern State with 27 points and 10 rebounds.  Jill Conrad and Alexis Tappe also reached double digits with 10 points apiece.
            The Wolves ended the game shooting 56.3 percent from the field connecting on 36 of 64 shots.  NSU was 4 of 6 from the 3-point line and 5 for 11 at the charity stripe.
            Northern State held a commanding 41-30 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats.  Kacie O'Connor was the top rebounder for WSC with five caroms while Ristau's 10 boards paced the Wolves.
            With the rebounding advantage, NSU outscored WSC 54-26 in the paint and 15-7 in second chance points.  The Wildcats forced 18 turnovers on NSU (four more than WSC), giving the Wildcats a 18-14 edge in points off turnovers.
            Schulte and Maggie Lowe each had three assists for WSC.  Lowe was also credited with five steals while Ballinger recorded four of Wayne State's five blocked shots.81-71
            The Wildcats face another tough NSIC North opponent Saturday playing at MSU Moorhead in a 4 p.m. contest.