North Dakota State Athletics
6-5
Northern State
3-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern State | 31 | 25 | 56 |
| North Dakota State | 28 | 36 | 64 |
Samuelson Sparks Late Run as North Dakota State Tops Northern State 64-56
12/18/2009 11:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FARGO, N.D.--Ashley Samuelson sparked a late run as North Dakota State University outscored visiting Northern State University 22-8 in the final eight minutes to post a 64-56 victory in a women's college basketball game played Friday, Dec. 18, before 833 spectators in the Bison Sports Arena.
North Dakota State (6-5, 2-0 Summit League) is scheduled to host Northern Arizona University (2-9, 0-0 Big Sky) at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21. Northern Arizona lost 69-55 at North Dakota on Friday night. Northern State (3-7, 0-4 NSIC) plays against Chadron State on Dec. 19.
Samuelson, a 6-foot senior from Underwood, Minn., scored seven of her 10 points and came up with three of her four steals over the last 8:33 help the Bison rally from a 12-point first half deficit and overcome the hot-hand of Northern State's Emily Becken.
Becken scored a career-high 27 points as the 5-foot-7 sophomore connected on 11 of 15 from the field including 5 of 8 from the three-point line. She added four rebounds and a pair of assists playing all 40 minutes. Jenna Higgins added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Wolves led 48-42 with 8:56 remaining when Nicky Rausch found 6-foot-6 Krista Rabenberg for a layup.
Whitney Trecker started the North Dakota State run by driving to the basket for an easy two. Samuelson came up with a pair of steals, one she converted into a layup and then stroked a three-pointer to put the Bison ahead for good, 49-48, with 5:57 left.
Becken kept Northern State within striking distance hitting a pair of three-pointers and a layup, but the Wolves couldn't keep up with the Bison who started to connect from the field. NDSU made 9 of its last 14 field goals attempts
Freshman Hannah Linz drained two of her career-high four three-pointers, sophomore Katie Birkel shook free to hit a pair of jumpers, and Inger Hodgson and Abby Plucker combined to make 3 of 4 free throws to help the Bison pull away.
Hodgson scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Bison, while Birkel and Linz each netted 12. Birkel finished seven assists and three steals.
North Dakota State committed only six turnovers to overcome a cold shooting night, hitting only 36.8 percent from the field. The Bison six turnovers was one off the school record of five against St .Cloud State during the 1996 season.
Northern State hit 44.2 percent from the field overall and held a 40-37 rebounding edge led by the game-high 13 boards from Mikayla Barondeau. The Wolves had 20 turnovers that turned into 25 points for NDSU.
