The Peacocks held a four-point lead at halftime on the road over the #7 ranked team in the country on Saturday, but the Wolves of Northern State University showed their mettle in the second half to rally and earn the 68-58 conference victory.  UIU still led by one point with just over eight minutes to play, but the home team outscored the Peacocks 23-10 over the final minutes for the ten-point win.
 
The teams battled evenly in the first half with neither team getting away by more than six points.  UIU's largest lead of six, 29-23, came with 4:39 to play when Lauren Buck dropped in a jump shot.  The teams tied on six occasions and exchanged the lead four times.  The final tie of the half came midway through the period and Upper Iowa took the lead when Olivia Winkler knocked in a free throw.  The visitors held the lead for the remainder of the half holding the Wolves to just 10 points over the final ten and a half minutes.
 
The bucket-for-bucket battle continued in the second half as the score knotted up five times and changed hands three times.  A trifecta out of the hand of Laura TerHark with 8:57 on the clock broke the final tie and gave UIU a 48-45 lead.  The Wolves offense took over from that point though scoring 23 points over the final eight minutes while holding the Peacock scorers to just 10 points in that time.  Northern State used a 24-6 advantage in points in the paint to secure the win.
 
Buck led the Peacocks in scoring with 19 points, hitting a trio of three-pointers despite struggling inside the arc.  The senior recorded her sixth double-double thanks to 11 rebounds.  Winkler netted 10 points on four field goals and a pair of free throws.  Lindsay Carroll handed out 4 assists, while scoring 8 points.
 
The Wolves were led by Rachel Krogman, one of three NSU players in double figures, with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Upper Iowa will host Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday at 6 p.m. and then welcome the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday at 4 p.m.