The Peacock women's basketball team lost a Northern Sun Conference cross division game at Northern State University on Friday evening in Aberdeen, S.D. The Wolves dominated the glass picking up a huge advantage in rebounds and second chance points to earn an 86-63 victory over Upper Iowa. NSU improves to 16-5 overall and 12-5 in the conference, while UIU falls to 3-18 overall and 3-14 in the NSIC.
 
Upper Iowa hung tough with Northern State in the first and third quarters, but the home team did their damage in the second and fourth quarters claiming a 40-22 advantage on the scoreboard during those periods.
 
After the teams played a tightly-contested opening six and a half minutes, Madi Meier knocked down a three-pointer and Blair Klostermann converted a jumper to cut the margin back to one point, 18-17, with two and a half minutes to play. Northern State held the Peacocks scoreless over the remainder of the period and the first minute and a half of the second quarter while scoring eight straight and getting out to a 26-17 lead. Upper Iowa cut a 10-point defecit to one score with a 7-0 run, but the Wolves came right back with a 9-0 run of their own to take a 41-29 lead at the break.
 
Both teams' offenses came out hitting on all cylinders in the third quarter. The squads both scored 24 points in the frame, but the ten minutes was like a roller coaster ride. A 7-1 run by the Peacocks in the first minute and a half cut the gap to just six points, 42-36, but Northern State recovered and then 21-7 over a six-minute timespan to work out to a 60-43 lead. The NSU advantage held at seventeen going into the final minute of the quarter, but five quick points on a Haley Martin three-pointer and a Sam Ofstad layup cut the gap back to twelve, 65-53, heading to the fourth.
 
An 8-1 run over the first five minutes of the final quarter put the game out of reach for UIU as the home team opened up their lead to nineteen. Free throws and a final three-pointer from the Wolves gave Northern State the twenty-three point win, 86-63.
 
For the game, NSU outrebounded UIU 47-26 and posted a 21-5 advantage in second chance points thanks to 17 offensive boards.
 
Klostermann scored a team-high 19 points and grabbed 2 rebounds, while Sam Ofstad scored 12 points, pulled down 3 rebounds and handed out 3 assists. Haley Martin added 10 points and 4 rebounds. UIU knocked down 11 three-pointers with all of the makes coming in the first and third quarters. While knocking down 39% of their three's, the Peacocks were only 10-32 on shots inside the three-point arc.
 
UIU is headed farther north for tomorrow's conference game. The Peacocks will face the NSIC North leading MSUM Dragons in Moorhead, Minn. on Saturday at 4 p.m.