A career-high performance led to a first-home victory Saturday night at Wachs Arena.

Izzy Moore’s 30-point outing powered the Northern State women’s basketball team to its first home win with a 68-62 victory over Minot State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.

“It was super fun. I really, really just wanted to win,” Moore said, “but it’s super fun when you play well yourself.”

Moore’s point total came from shooting 11-for-17 from the field, 3-for- 4 from the 3-point line, and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. She also added eight rebounds and two assists.

In a tight game, it was Moore’s 27th and 28th points that really stood out as she pulled up in the paint and nailed a shot to help Northern take a 66-62 lead with 12 seconds remaining.

“I can’t even take credit for that,” said NSU coach Paula Krueger. “I was gonna call something for Izzy to get to the rim, but KB (assistant coach Katie Bourk) tugged my shirt and she’s like ‘Coach, run the dribble set,’ and I was like ‘OK.’”

Moore also made two free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.

“I try to just not think of the score when I’m taking those shots, otherwise I get tight,” said Moore. “Just reaction offense, taking what the defense gives me and trying to finish it.”

The Wolves had a chance to put the game away, leading 61-53 with 4:29 remaining in the game, but a couple turnovers and baskets in a row allowed the Beavers to get back in the game as they cut the lead down to four points with just under two minutes remaining.

“Everybody wanted us to call a timeout and I’m like I only have one and if I take it now, I don’t have it to advance in a little bit so like, we’re gonna have to figure this out,” said Krueger. “I kept telling them ‘I trust you guys.’ Like if I didn’t trust you, I would have burned our time out.”

After four consecutive points off turnovers by the Beavers, the Wolves flipped the script and got three points of their own. Reagan Rus checked into the game and immediately stole the inbound pass. She missed her first layup, got her own rebound and found success on the second shot, while being fouled. She hit her free throw for a conventional three-point play.

“When I first came into the game, I really just wanted to do something to change the game, because I feel like the momentum was kind of wavering,” said Rus. “I saw the pass coming out the backside and I was like OK, I can take that and then I was just like alright. It felt really exciting and the energy in the gym was super hype and my teammates were hyped up, and it was really awesome.”

The true freshman from Mount Vernon-Plankinton has been battling nerves on the court while receiving quality minutes.

“Yeah, I definitely feel the nerves. It’s a lot different than high school. Obviously, everyone’s bigger, stronger, faster, so it’s a different ball game,” said Rus. “But honestly, I just kind of take it as an opportunity. And not everyone gets to play as a freshman, so I’m just trying to do what I can.”

Another big defensive play came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Wolves found themselves up 49-46 with 8:24 left when Taylor Tool blocked Jessica Mogen’s shot in the lane, and followed it up with an assist to Rus on the other end. Tool made an impact all over the floor on the night, starting with the first points of the game for the Wolves as the center hit an open 3-pointer.

“Taylor never ceases to amaze me. She’s so unassuming. You’ve never thought that when she walks on the floor that you would think this kid can do the things that this kid can do,” Krueger said. “She’s a very good athlete, you just don’t realize it until the ball gets put into play and then you’re like ‘Oh, she just nailed that 3.’”

It was a balanaced attack for NSU after Moore’s offensive explosion, as the remaining six Wolves in the scoring column all scored between 4-10 points. Telia Graham accounted for six, all coming in the final minutes of the game after not putting up a shot until then.

“I went down and I sat by her in the fourth quarter. … and said ‘Telia, this is a hard game to play in if you aren’t gonna shoot the ball.’ I said, ‘If I put you in there, you need to be the best defender, the best rebounder, and the best cutter,’” Krueger said. “And when you cut, she goes ‘Coach, I’ll shoot it.’ So, we put her in and got her to the short corner and go to the middle of the floor. She cut and the first one was reversed. I was like ‘Who is that kid? Where’d that come from?’ But she’s an unbelievable athlete.”

After a pair of losses to start the NSIC schedule, the Wolves were looking to get into the win column.

“We’ve just been really looking to get our first conference win and we knew that we were gonna have a crowd tonight and we wanted to use that energy to propel us,” said Moore. “Our last home game was rough, so we just wanna get that first win and then hopefully the next start falling, too.”

The Wolves have two more chances for NSIC wins this coming week as they host Minnesota-Duluth on Thursday and Bemidji State on Saturday.

“I love to win games,” Krueger said. “I hate for my friends to lose. I love (Minot coach) Ryan Clark like a family member. He’s a special, special human. He’s doing some really good things there, but I will take the W.”

To see a complete box score of the game, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2025-26/minot-state/boxscore/14133