A 10-minute stretch, specifically the second quarter, proved to be the difference Thursday night at Wachs Arena.
The University of Mary outscored Northern State 27-9 in the period, built a double-digit lead and grabbed a 70-57 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s college basketball victory.
The Wolves led 13-12 early in the second quarter when everything changed. The Marauders went on a 17-2 run to build a 14-point lead and Northern was unable to get the margin back under double digits the rest of the night.
Mary outrebounded Northern by 14 in the opening half to help build its lead.
“We don’t get outrebounded like that, and they just came after us in the second quarter like gangbusters and we didn’t respond,” said Northern coach Paula Krueger. ” We took a lot of punches and we didn’t really punch back until that third quarter.”
By then, the Marauders owned a 19-point lead, a margin that eventually ballooned to as much as 25 which gave the visitors enough of a cushion to hold off the Wolves down the stretch.
“I’m really proud of our effort in the second quarter,” said Mary coach Rick Newmann. “On the defensive end held a really good team to nine points and then on offense moved it, shared it and made shots. The game is always easier when the ball goes in and we made enough shots in that second quarter for that cushion.”
Northern eventually closed the gap to 12 points with 8:47 left before Mary responded with eight quick points to stem the tide.
Megan Zander led four players in double figures with 18 points to top the Marauders. Former Redfield standout Addison Rozell contributed 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
“I’m really proud of Addison coming back here a few miles from home and having a great game like this,” Newmann said. “That’s something that she should be proud of and that we should be proud of, too.”
Rozell has spent many nights inside Wachs Arena as a spectator in the past.
“I loved going to Northern games as a kid,” Rozell said, “so playing here and playing well here means a lot to me.”
Rozell was matched up in the lane against Laurie Rogers, who starred at Warner.
“Playing against her, it’s just like back in high school,” Rozell said. “I knew what I was going into tonight and I thought I held my own against her. She’s a really good player.”
Rozell’s parents both went to Northern. Her mom, Julie, is still NSU’s all-time leading scorer and was a high school and college teammate of Krueger’s.
“Addie played really, really well and I’m happy for her because she’s Julie’s daughter,” Krueger said. “I’m not happy for us, but because she’s Julie’s daughter, it’s nice to see her do good things.”
Rogers had a solid game for the Wolves, leading the team with 18 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Reserves Morgan Fiedler had 11 points and five rebounds, and Madelyn Bragg six points and six rebounds.
“Morgan is just a really good athlete. I thought if there was a bright spot tonight, our two freshmen played really well,” Krueger said. “Morgan played well, and Madi came in and was a big spark in establishing herself and demanding the ball.”
The setback snapped a six-game winning streak for the Wolves. Krueger is confident that her squad will be bounce back.
“Good teams have bad games,” Krueger said, “and tonight we just had a bad game.”
In the end, it was the second quarter that proved to be the difference when the Marauders pulled away.
“We weren’t good enough tonight to win and hats off to them, they played well,” Krueger said. “They did enough things to win.”
Northern returns to action Saturday with another NSIC contest at Minot State.
To see a box score, click on the following link:
