Northern State passed its final exam of the 2012 calendar year.
The Wolves clubbed Minnesota-Duluth 72-42 on Saturday at Wachs Arena in a physical Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball game. After starting 0-2 in NSIC play, the Wolves have won three straight conference games heading into the Christmas break.
Alison Kusler powered the Wolves with a career-high 24 points and seven boards. Kusler finished 14-for-18 from the free throw line, including 11-for-14 in the second half. Rachel Krogman collected her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
"We were focusing on taking care of the ball and making sure we locked down on defense and that is what we did," Krogman said. "It feels pretty amazing going into Christmas break like this."
After a back and forth start to the game, the Wolves pulled away and stretched their lead to double digits. NSU held the Bulldogs without a field goal for almost 10 minutes in the first half. NSU held the Bulldogs' two leading scorers - Katrina Newman and Hannah Rutten - to 10 points apiece.
"Kids are playing really good defense right now," NSU coach Curt Fredrickson said. "It is just hard to score on us. It is hard to get second shots on us."
The Wolves out-rebounded the Bulldogs 53-39. And while the Wolves defense was shutting down the Bulldogs, their offense was rolling. NSU shot 46.7 percent (14-for-30) in the first half and held a comfortable 40-19 lead at the break.
"They started pretty hot, we started pretty hot and then we kind of went on a little bit of a run," Fredrickson said. "After five or six minutes were gone, it stretched out to eight or 10 points and kind of kept that and stretched it out a little bit."
However, the scrappy and physical Bulldogs did not go away. Duluth went on a 9-2 run to start the second half to get within 42-28 with 14:45 left. The margin never dipped below 14 points the rest of the game. The Wolves made only eight field goals in the second half, but were 15-for-20 from the foul line in the second half and 25-for-33 for the game.
"In the second half, they made a little run at us," Fredrickson said. "We survived that. Made some free throws and really kept our composure. I thought we did a great job on the boards against a very good rebounding team. We really took them out of a lot of things they wanted to do offensively."
The game also featured 19 jump balls. Fredrickson said about the bizarre stat: "I've never seen so many jump balls in all my life."
"We just clearly couldn't handle the rebound or something and if you bring it down, their guards are going to attack you right away," Krogman said. "We just have to work on keeping the ball high and just grabbing it."
The Bulldogs pressured the Wolves full court for a majority of the game. Duluth finished with 14 steals and forced 19 NSU turnovers.
"They are always physical," Krogman said. "We knew they were going to be as physical with us as possible. We just need to expect more of that next time."
There was a slight change to the line up as Kusler started at the point and freshman Devon Brecke got her first career collegiate start at the shooting guard spot. Kusler responded with her first 20-point game of the season. Megan Mutchler just missed a double-double as she registered eight points and eight rebounds. The Wolves played 14 players.
Northern State (7-2, 3-2) will host Bemidji State and Minnesota-Crookston on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, respectively.
MINNESOTA-DULUTH (6-3, 3-2): Alyssa Kerkhoff 1-7 1-2 3, Courtney Doucette 2-14 2-3 7, Kaiya Sygulla 1-3 0-0 3, Katrina Newman 5-17 0-2 10, Hannah Rutten 4-9 0-0 10, Danielle Flood 0-2 1-2 1, Megan Lueck 0-3 0-0 0, Kelsy Sorenson 0-0 0-0 0, Josephine Salmon 1-7 1-2 3, Shauni Payeur 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Guetter 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Dillenger 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Meyer 1-4 3-4 5, Abbie Whitney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-68 8-15 42.
NORTHERN STATE (7-2, 3-2): Sarah Hintz 3-4 0-0 6, Devon Brecke 1-5 2-2 4, Alison Kusler 5-14 14-18 24, Megan Mutchler 3-11 2-2 8, Rachel Krogman 3-7 5-7 11, Sami Smith 1-1 1-2 4, Kara Hofschild 2-3 0-0 4, Erin Rabenberg 1-1 0-0 3, MacKinzie Magner 2-2 0-0 5, Katrina Kjerstad 0-2 0-0 0, Mykenzie Spaulding 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Deadrick 0-2 0-0 0, Yvonne Freese 1-2 1-2 3, Sadie Stotesbery 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 25-33 72.
Halftime score - Northern 40-19. 3-point field goals - Duluth 4-21 (Kerkhoff 0-1, Doucette 1-7, Sygulla 1-1, Newman 0-3, Rutten 2-3, Luecke 0-2, Salmon 0-4); Northern 3-6 (Brecke 0-1, Kusler 0-2, Smith 1-1, Rabenberg 1-1, Magner 1-1). Total fouls - Duluth 24; Northern 14. Fouled out - Duluth, Sygulla; Northern, None. Rebounds - Duluth 39 (Newman 9); Northern 53 (Krogman 11). Assists - Duluth 9 (Doucette 2, Newman 2, Salmon 2); Northern 10 (Kusler 2, Hofschild 2). Blocks - Duluth 3 (Sygulla 1, Flood 1, Salmon 1); Northern 3 (Krogman 2). Steals - Duluth 14 (Newman 4); Northern 6 (Kusler 3). Turnovers - Duluth 18; Northern 19. Officials - Jon Garrow, Bryan Rump, Troy Test. A - 2,613.