Defense dominates in 70-43 victory over Northern State

Saturday, February 16

Aberdeen, SD

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

15-9, 12-8NSIC

Northern State University

9-17, 6-14NSIC

St. Cloud State

Northern State

Katrina Theis shot 7-10 from the floor and tallied two blocks and two steals Saturday afternoon.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

2/16/2019 5:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – There is rarely ever complete and total domination in a college basketball game. Saturday afternoon, the St. Cloud State University women's basketball team may have done just that. St. Cloud State was offensively and defensively at the top of its game Saturday afternoon, as it defeated Northern State University 70-43 in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

It was a defensive battle between the Huskies and Wolves in the opening half, as the two teams scored just 20 points in each of the first two quarters. In the opening 10 minutes of play, it was Northern State that found itself on top, as the home team lead St. Cloud state 11-9 after the first quarter. However, the Huskies used a 9-0 run early in the second to jump ahead to an 18-11 lead, thanks in large part to Katrina Theis (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove), Nikki Kilboten (Eau Claire, Wis. / North) and Brehna Evans (De Pere, Wis. / West De Pere). The three each in a hand in St. Cloud State's huge quarter, as the team outscored Northern State 15-5 to take a 24-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.

What may have been more impressive than the Huskies scoring efforts was their defensive play. In the first two quarters of play, St. Cloud State tallied five blocks and five steals as a team while forcing seven Northern State turnovers. The Huskies also held the Wolves to 1-12 (.083) shooting in the second quarter and 6-30 (.200) shooting in the first half alone.

St. Cloud State continued to fire on all cylinders in the third quarter, as a high-potent offensive attack allowed the Huskies to take a 39-21 lead over Northern State midway through. A five-point swing, highlighted by threes from Madelin Dammann (Waconia, Minn. / Waconia) and Tori Wortz (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) allowed St. Cloud State to take the double-digit lead, one which they would never relinquish. However, the Wolves certainly made things interesting, as they used a scoring run of their own to whittle St. Cloud State's lead to 41-31 with under a minute remaining in the third.

The Huskies offense and defense figured things out and, thanks to a jumper at the buzzer by Mallie Doucette (Colfax, Wis. / Colfax) took a 45-31 lead at the end of the third quarter. The defense then took over from there. With five minutes remaining in regulation, St. Cloud State's defense had already tallied 10 steals and six blocks while forcing 14 Northern State turnovers, allowing the team to hold a 56-36 advantage over its opponent.

The Huskies cruised to victory from there, as they continued to pound on the points en route to the 70-43 victory. In fact, St. Cloud State's offensive shot .769 from the floor in the fourth and final quarter, the team's best shooting performance in the final 10 minutes this season.

Several Huskies filled the stat sheet Saturday afternoon, as Theis, Kilboten, Evans and Doucette all scored in double-digits for St. Cloud State. Kilboten and Theis were forces to be reckoned with underneath, as they scored a combined 35 points on Kilboten's 18 and Theis 17. Theis was also a power on the boards, as she finished the game with a team-leading eight rebounds.

Evans recorded a new career high in points as she finished the game with 11, while Doucette recorded another double-digit game with 14 points for the Huskies.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 15-9 and the team is 12-8 in NSIC play. The Huskies will return to action on Friday, February 22 when they host Bemidji State University at 5:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.