Third quarters have been a nemesis for the Northern State women’s basketball team so far this season, but on Saturday night that period proved to be a difference maker.
The Wolves outscored Bemidji State 25-14 in the third 10-minute segment to take control en route to a 62-55 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory at Wachs Arena.
“We went in at halftime and we just talked about how we need to change the tone,” said NSU coach Paula Krueger, “how we need to come out in the third quarter and let people know this is our house and nobody comes in takes what doesn’t belong to them.”
That period, which proved costly in a setback to Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday, has been something that the Wolves have been looking to correct.
“We really addressed that we need to be a better third-quarter team,” said Northern’s Megan Counts, “because that’s something that we’ve consistently struggled with, so we really harped on that in practice.”
Northern trailed 38-35 early in the third quarter when the Wolves turned things around.
“We did it with young kids. We changed the pace of the game,” Krueger said. “We went small, which benefited us, because we were able to create some opportunities.”
Four different players scored during a 19-6 surge to close the period, while others played their roles with rebounds and assists.
“We just realized that we needed to move the ball more efficiently,” Counts said, “because we were a little bit stagnant in the second quarter and that’s why we had so many different people scoring is because we moved the ball and we realized we need to set more screens.”
While leading scorer Izzy Moore still topped the Wolves with 15 points, she had plenty of help on the night.
“We scored 22 points off the bench,” Krueger said. “That says a lot.”
Carli Kuyper added 10 points. Counts contributed nine points.
Meanwhile, the Northern defense did its part, limiting the Beavers to just 55 points, including 11 in the final period.
“We played great defense,” Krueger said, “48 percent of their offense comes from the 3-point line and they were only able to get up 13 today and only make one. I felt really good about that.”
The victory salvaged a homestand split on the weekend and gives the Wolves a boost heading to Moorhead for another NSIC game on Thursday.
“We knew we had to at least win one of the two this weekend after a tough loss on Thursday,” Counts said, “so we’re glad that we executed tonight.”
To see a complete box score of the game, click on the following link:
