Huskies dominate in 97-29 win over Northland

Saturday, November 24

St. Cloud, Minn.

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

3-1, 0-0NSIC

Northland College

2-1, 0-0UMAC

Northland

St. Cloud State

Sophomore Cici Kieger drains a three in the Huskies 97-29 win over Northland Saturday afternoon.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

11/24/2018 6:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – There were baskets a plenty at St. Cloud State University's Halenbeck Hall Saturday afternoon, though not of the food filled variety. The St. Cloud State women's basketball team hosted Northland College in a post-Thanksgiving match up, and there was plenty of scoring to go around. The Huskies dominated en route to a 97-29 victory, holding a team under 30 points for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

In an impressive display of offense, every player on the court for St. Cloud State scored at least one point Saturday afternoon, including three who scored in double-digits. First year forward Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) led the team in scoring, tying her career-high with 13 points on the night for the Huskies, while Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) and Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) added 11 and 10 points respectively. The team also shot a blistering 52.1 percent from the floor Saturday afternoon, including 42.3 percent from three-point range and 83.3 from the charity stripe.

The scoring started early for the Huskies, as they jumped out to a 12-0 lead to open the first quarter. In fact, the Lumber Jills didn't score their first basket until 4:48 in the quarter to cut the lead to 12-2. However, by then, the damage had already been done. St. Cloud State opened the game with back-to-back threes from Wortz to go up 6-0 before four straight points from Mackenzie Uter (Howard Lake, Minn. / Howard Lake-Waverly Winsted) put the team up 10-0 midway through the quarter. Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) clinched the 12-0 run with a jumper from the free-throw line, marking the Huskies best start to a game this season.

Northland did manage to score five points in the opening quarter, but St. Cloud State still managed to hold a 22-5 lead after the first 10 minutes. From that point on, it was all Huskies all the way, as a 23-point second quarter allowed them to take a 45-13 lead to the locker room at half time.

The second half was equally as impressive for St. Cloud State, as the team scored 26 points in back-to-back quarters en route to the impressive 97-29 victory. Caitlyn Peterson (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North) was the-high scorer for the Huskies in the second half, scoring a team-leading nine points on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Dammann, Cici Kieger (Woodbury, Minn. / Woodbury) and Taylor Persche (Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge) each added eight points in the second half, while Amanda Porth (Jackson, Wis. / Kettle Moraine Lutheran) tallied seven points with seven assists, the most assists by a St. Cloud State student-athlete this season.

The Huskies defense was no slouch on the day either, as they held the Lumber Jills to 29 points and 25.6 percent shooting from the floor. In fact, Northland's highest scoring quarter was the third, when the team managed to score 11 points on St. Cloud State's stingy defense. However, on average, the Lumber Jills scored just 7.25 points per quarter against the Huskies and no student-athlete scored in double-digit numbers for Northland Saturday night.

Additionally, St. Cloud State won the turnover battle in dominating fashion on Saturday, forcing 27 Lumber Jill turnovers while only committing 11 as a team. Mallie Doucette (Colfax, Wis. / Colfax) recorded an impressive four steals in the win, while Kieger added three.

Thanks to the 97-29 victory, the Huskies overall record improves to 3-1 this season. St. Cloud State will return to the court on Saturday, December 1 when the team hosts the University of Minnesota-Duluth to open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.