BOX SCORE

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State held a 45-21 rebound margin and used the advantage to earn a 67-56 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night in Aberdeen, S.D.

The Wolves (11-5, 8-4 NSIC) finished with 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 22 second chance points, compared to just two second chance points for SMSU (4-11, 3-8 NSIC). NSU also was red-hot from the free throw line making 26 of 27 free throws.

Jodi Reinschmidt scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Northern State.

Abby Kenealy led the Mustangs with 16 points and a team-high five rebounds.

The Wolves controlled the opening minutes of the game, building a 14-4 lead, before SMSU answered with six straight points to cut the lead to 14-11 with 9:53 left in the half, following a pair of free throws by Kenealy.

NSU continued to lead for the remainder of the half, including pushing the lead to 29-19, before SMSU's Bree Holleman ended the half with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 29-22 at halftime.

NSU held a 22-15 rebound advantage in the first half and recorded nine second chance points off of seven offensive rebounds.

SMSU cut the NSU lead to three points on several occasions in the second half, including 39-36 following a field goal by Lucia Puchelova at the 13:43 mark. SMSU was then held to just one field goal in the next eight minutes as NSU pushed the lead to 51-40 with 5:45 remaining in the game.

Trailing 53-42 with five minutes on the clock, SMSU put together one more rally and cut the deficit to 55-51 with 2:23 remaining following a pair of free throws by Heather Smith. SMSU's Amber Peterson scored with two minutes on the clock to make the score 57-53, but the Wolves made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Northern State finished the game shooting 37 percent (19 of 51) from the field, while SMSU shot 39 percent (20 of 52).

Southwest Minnesota State will now begin the second half of the conference season and open a four-game homestand next Friday, Jan. 21, taking on Minnesota Duluth (9-6, 7-4 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.