The NSU reserve players tossed in 28 points on Friday in a 69-58 win over the University of Nebraska-Kearney at the Radisson-Roseville Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Concordia-St. Paul at the Gangelhoff Center.
"Our bench had 28 points. When your bench gets one-third of your points, that's good," said NSU coach Curt Fredrickson, who is beginning his 34th season with the Wolves. He picked up career win 710. "If we would have made some free throws, it wouldn't have been an 11-point game."
Northern shot just 48 percent from the charity stripe making 14 of 29 attempts.
The game was close in the early going as Kearney took a 21-17 lead with 7½ minutes remaining in the first half, but the Wolves outscored the Lopers 18-6 before halftime.
"We got a feel for what they were trying to do on defense. It was kind of a struggle the whole game. We just couldn't shake them. We made a nice run before halftime to take the lead and in the second half we tried to hold on to the lead. We had to battle through foul trouble," said Fredrickson.
Two starters, Rachel Krogman and Kara Hofschild, played with four fouls for a majority of the second half, but neither fouled out. Northern built its largest lead of the game at 16 points at 56-40 with almost 11 minutes left in the game. The Lopers closed to nine points at 61-50 on a free throw by Melissa Norman at the six-minute mark.
Krogman and Hofschild made one free throw each, and Hofschild followed with a field goal for a 66-53 margin. In the last three minutes of the game, both teams turned the ball over twice. The Lopers missed five field goals in that span.
"We missed at least six or seven shots within two feet of the basket," said Fredrickson. "With the missed free throws (13) and the missed bunnies (short field goals), we're fortunate to win. Kearney played well against us. They got to a lot of loose ball rebounds. It was good to come out of here with a win."
The Lopers had just one player reach double figures in scoring as Shelby Zimmerman finished with 13 points. For the Wolves, Megan Mutchler had 11 points and Sarah Hintz added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Devon Brecke followed with nine points. Mutchler and Brecke both saw action at the small forward spot.
"That spot was huge for us," said Fredrickson. "That was one of the reasons we won the ball game was how those two played at that position."
Northern will complete play in the two-day classic tournament today at 2 p.m. against William Penn College of Oskaloosa, Iowa, which has a 3-4 record.
"They are a run-and-gun kind of team," said Fredrickson about William Penn. "Sometimes they shoot it pretty good and sometimes they don't. We'll play a little zone press and a little 3-1-1 zone and see how they do against it. We're trying to gear our defense so we can go either zone or man."
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (2-3): Shelby Zimmerman 6-11 0-1 13, Melissa Norman 2-4 2-4 6, Nicole Arp 2-10 2-2 7, Laramey Lewis 2-5 0-0 5, Sarah Hix 3-7 2-3 8, Sydney Seberger 2-3 2-3 6, Queen Ohamara 2-5 1-2 5, Sydney Mullings 2-3 0-0 4, Reed Levings 2-5 0-0 4, Danielle Kersten 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 9-15 58.
NORTHERN STATE (3-0): Sarah Hintz 5-7 0-1 10, Megan Mutchler 4-7 3-5 11, Rachel Krogman 1-2 6-8 8, Kara Hofschild 2-2 2-8 6, Alison Kusler 2-6 1-2 6, Sami Smith 1-3 1-2 4, Erin Rabenberg 1-1 0-0 2, Mackinzie Magner 0-2 0-0 0, Devon Brecke 4-8 1-2 9, Lauren Deadrick 1-1 0-0 2, Yvonne Freese 3-7 0-1 6, Sadie Stotesbery 2-6 0-0 5. Totals 26-52 14-29 69.
Halftime - Northern 35-27. 3-point field goals - Kearney 3-11 (Zimmerman 1-1, Arp 1-5, Lewis 1-1, Hix 0-2, Levings 0-2); Northern 3-9 (Kusler 1-2, Smith 1-1, Brecke 0-3, Stotesbery 1-3). Fouled out - Kearney, Seberger. Total fouls - Kearney 23; Northern 18. Rebounds - Kearney 34 (Zimmerman 6); Northern 38 (Hintz 10). Turnovers - Kearney 19; Northern 15. Assists - Kearney 15 (Zimmerman 4); Northern 18 (Hofschild 5). Steals - Kearney 13 (Zimmerman 3, Lewis 3); Northern 10 (Hintz 2, Krogman 2, Hofschild 2, Kusler 2). Blocked shots - Kearney 2 (Zimmerman 1, Norman 1); Northern 2 (Mutchler 1, Hofschild 2).