ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Northern State saw its season come to an end on Saturday.
The NSU women's basketball dropped an 80-65 decision against Concordia-St. Paul in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball tournament. The Wolves finish their season with a 16-12 record, while the Golden Bears improved to 23-5.
Concordia-St. Paul will now play in the semifinals of the NSIC tournament on Friday in Rochester, Minn. NSU defeated Concordia-St. Paul 63-50 earlier in the season in St. Paul. However, the Golden Bears had not lost a game after that and were on a 14-game winning streak coming into the game.
The Golden Bears continued their winning ways against the Wolves on Saturday. Concordia had four players score in double figures and nailed 11 three-pointers en route to the win.
"When they shoot the ball like they did tonight," NSU coach Curt Fredrickson said, "nobody is going to beat them."
NSU tied up the score at 28-all in the first half, but the Golden Bears closed on a 12-1 run and took a 40-29 lead into halftime. Concordia then went on a 9-0 run in the second half and later led by as much as 19 points midway with 10 minutes left.
"We had some bad turnovers at the end of the first half and we didn't give ourselves a chance to get back into it after halftime," Fredrickson said.
Rachel Krogman powered the Wolves with 23 points and 11 boards. Alison Kusler added 12 points in a losing effort. The Wolves will graduate only two seniors -- Sarah Hintz and Yvonne Freese. NSU's top scorers Krogman and Kusler will return and the Wolves are bringing in another big recruiting class.
"We won 16 games this year and we think we can do better next year and hopefully we can get into that regional poll next year," Fredrickson said.
NORTHERN STATE (16-12): Sarah Hintz 2-6 1-2 6, Megan Mutchler 3-7 2-2 7, Rachel Krogman 7-11 9-14 23, Devon Brecke 2-5 1-2 7, Alison Kusler 4-9 2-2 12, Sami Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Kara Hofschild 1-2 2-2 4, Erin Rabenberg 1-1 0-0 2, Katrina Kjerstad 0-0 0-0 0, Mykenzie Spaulding 0-1 0-2 0, Lauren Deadrick 1-1 0-0 2, Yvonne Frese 0-0 0-0 0, Sadie Stotesbery 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 22-49 16-26 65.
CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL (23-5): Kionda Nicks 2-3 0-0 4, Arika Whiting 7-11 4-7 19, Jasmine Haynes 3-5 0-0 7, Rachel Hansen 5-10 5-8 16, Carissa Wolyniec 4-8 0-0 11, Kika Greenlee 0-0 0-0 0, Kayla Hulsebus 0-0 0-0 0, Mandy Poke 5-7 0-0 13, Asha Knight 1-2 0-0 3, Jordyn Dudley 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Quiram 0-2 0-0 0, Amanda Barton 2-8 2-4 7. Totals 29-56 11-19 80.
Halftime score -- Concordia 40-29. 3-point field goals -- Northern 5-9 (Hintz 1-1, Mutchler 0-1, Brecke 2-3, Kusler 2-2, Smith 0-1, Stotesbery 0-1); Concordia 11-25 (Whiting 1-2, Haynes 1-2, Hansen 1-2, Wolyniec 3-7, Poke 3-5, Knight 1-1, Barton 1-6). Total fouls -- Northern 15; Concordia 18. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- Northern37 (Krogman 11); Concordia 28 (Poke 7). Assists -- Northern 16 (Hintz 7); Concordia 22 (Hansen 6). Blocks -- Northern 0; Concordia 2 (Nicks 1, Whiting 1). Steals -- Northern 3 (Krogman 3); Concordia 13 (Poke 5). Turnovers -- Northern17 ; Concordia 8. Officials -- Anne Nehring, Dave Peterson, Mary Toberman.
