SIOUX FALLS – The Northern State women’s basketball team did something it has struggled to do, to accomplish something it hasn’t done since 2017 on Sunday afternoon.

The Wolves, who have struggled shooting at the Sanford Pentagon in years past, had little trouble with that facet on the way to a 75-61 win over Sioux Falls during the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament, reaching the semifinal for the first time in nearly a decade.

“We took good shots today. That’s what mattered,” said NSU coach Paula Krueger. “We took the right shots. We were able to get some layups and we had some people hit some threes when we needed them.”

The Wolves bolted out to an early lead and owned a 13-point advantage at the half, despite center Madelyn Bragg playing just four scoreless minutes due to foul trouble.

“I think it’s good for others and it’s good for our team. We’re all aware that we can do things with lots of different people, but sometimes you just need that reminder,” Krueger said of the situation. “Maddie was very engaged on the bench and very locked in, and able to help her teammates. Certainly if we felt we would have needed to, I would have pulled the trigger and put her back in the game, but we were doing OK without her, and I wanted to save her for as much of the second half as we could have her.”

The Cougars eventually clawed back into the game and cut the margin down to 44-38 midway through the third period. However, the Wolves went on a 14-2 run which included nine unaswered points to quickly regain control.

“We knew they would make some runs and we were able to stop their runs with baskets of our own,” Krueger said. “We never let it slow us down or take us out of our thing. I was really impressed with our mentality and ability to just keep going.”

Northern relied on a staple of their offense to rebuild its lead, pick and roll plays run to perfection between Bragg and point guard Rianna Fillipi.

“Maddie and Rio are just so good together on the ball screens,” Krueger said, “it’s hard to stop that.”

While the Wolves shot 46 percent from the field, it was their defensive philosophy that also played a key role in the victory.

Former Hamlin standout Kami Wadsworth topped USF with a game-high 33 points, but Northern was content with the sophomore getting her points and stopping a potent Cougars outside attack.

“Our game plan she was going to get hers and we were going to leave our posts on an island by themselves and we were going to do everything we could to take away from the perimeter game,” Krueger said. “Because we feel like we could score twos and trade twos with them, but we wouldn’t be able to keep up shooting threes, because they’ve had 13-14, threes in a game. That’s just not our style, so we made a conscious choice to give up some twos in the paint to make sure we didn’t give up threes on the perimeter.”

The choice proved to be a wise one as USF managed just two 3-pointers, three less than the Wolves.

Alayna Benike topped Northern with 18 points and 10 rebounds, her third big game against the Cougars this season.

“The last time we played Sioux Falls at home she rebounded it really well and made some free throws, and that kind of thing,” Krueger said, “but the first time we played them she had 24, she led us in scoring and played really well. Today was very similar to that. She’s put a lot of time in. She earned that today for sure.”

Benike had plenty of help as NSU had five players in double-figure scoring. Michaela Jewett added 16 points, Bragg finished with 13, Fillipi contributed 11, and Morgan Fiedler added 10. Izzy Moore provided seven off the bench.

The Wolves, 19-10 on the season, will now face-top seeded Concordia-St. Paul at 11 this morning in the semifinals. Northern handed the Golden Bears one of their two losses on the season.

“They are really, really good basketball team. There’s a reason that they’re ranked where they are and the fact that they won the conference. They’re a hard guard. They’ve got a really, really good point guard and a fantastic post player, and the surrounding cast is really good too,” Krueger said. “It’s going to come down to some hustle plays, it’s going to come down to some rebounds. Our defensive effort is going to have be on point. We’re going to have to do some things to take some things away in transition, specifically. At this stage of the game, it just comes to making down to making one more play.”

Krueger said she and the team are enjoying the postseason journey, and plan to make the most of the opportunity.

“We talk about a joy and being happy and embracing all of the things,” Krueger said. “You know for me joy is a lot of things, but right now, it’s just outwork yesterday, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

To see a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2024-25/sioux-falls/boxscore/13999