Behind a stellar performance from Madelyn Bragg, the Northern State Wolves defeated the Augustana Vikings 63-49 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s basketball game at Wachs Arena.

Bragg erupted for 28 points, which tied a season-high and career-high. The center said it took confidence to perform at a high level on Saturday.

“I knew watching film that they weren’t going to bring the double (team), but I was kind of wary of it, knowing that they might bring some backside (help),” Bragg said. “Going up strong and staying confident and doing what I do best, and not trying to do anything too crazy.”

The sophomore made an impact early in the contest as the Wolves held a commanding lead throughout most of the first half.

Northern coach Paula Krueger emphasized working the ball into the post to Bragg, who scored the first six points for the Wolves, on the way to 13 points in the first half.

“If they’re going to play Madi Bragg one-on-one, then we’re going to throw her the ball, and if they’re going to play Madi Bragg one-on-two, we’re still going throw her the ball,” Krueger said. “We know that if we can get it in to get it out, then we’re going to be OK.”

The Vikings answered back with a pair of 3-point baskets to tie the score before Alayna Benike answered with a 3-pointer of her own to start a 10-0 Northern run. From there, the Wolves built a comfortable lead that lasted well into the second quarter.

“We just really locked in because we knew that Augustana’s a really talented team,” Bragg said. “If you let them get hot, they’re going to stay hot and it’s going to be a dogfight until the end, so we knew that we had to stop it right there.”

A Decontee Smith layup gave the Wolves a 34-14 lead with 4:36 left in the second quarter, and while the Northern did not score the rest of the half, the hosts still owned a 13-point lead at the break.

In the second half, the Wolves continued to feed Bragg inside as the Vikings had no answer for the 6-foot-3 Aberdeen native. When the Vikings collapsed their defense down on Bragg, she was able to find her teammates, who came up with clutch shots.

“It’s really nice when they get to do that because a lot of times there’s people in the paint,” Bragg said. “At the end of the game they started pulling in the double (team) and I got to kick it out to some of our shooters.”

The Wolves stretched their lead to as many as 18 points at the end of the third quarter and every time the Vikings attempted to climb back into the game in the fourth quarter, Northern closed the door.

“The girls just locked and said, Hey man, we’ve got to play some defense,” Krueger said. “We’ve got to finish what we started. We’ve got to be able to play through a little fatigue.”

The Wolves (12-4 overall and 8-2 in the NSIC) will now prepare to host Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota-Duluth on Friday and Saturday at Wachs Arena. Bragg said she and her teammates are excited for next weekend’s slate of games.

“CSP is super talented; they like to play fast. I think we’ll match up pretty well with them,” Bragg said. “Duluth has a lot of talent. Last year they were second in the nation and they’re bringing back a lot of talent. I’m really excited for that game, because they have a lot of girls that match up really well for us, so I think we’re all just really excited and ready to get those games going, too.”

For a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2023-24/augustana/boxscore/13349