BISMARCK, N.D. - An absence of scoring in the first half plagued the University of Mary Women's Basketball team tonight as they hosted Northern State University for the start of conference play.
 
The Marauders (5-3, 0-1 NSIC) had a sluggish first quarter, which resulted in a snapped five-game win streak as the Wolves (5-2, 1-1 NSIC) handed U-Mary a loss in their Northern Sun opener at 63-49.
 
Northern State opened up the first quarter on a 20-3 run that lasted nearly the full length as U-Mary managed a second basket with 22 seconds remaining with a Rachel Weir driving layup in the lane. Weir ended up drawing a foul on the layup and completed the classic three-point play, but U-Mary still faced the daunting task of a 22-6 deficit heading into the second quarter.
 
Hannah Larson notched a free throw in the opening minute of the second frame, but U-Mary could not find the hot hand as the Wolves extended their lead out to 31-7 with 5:54 remaining in the half. There was a brief burst of offense to close out the second quarter as Larson sunk a layup, Dani Williams had a layup of her own, and Brittney Dietz drained a shot form the perimeter, yet the Marauders found themselves down 35-14 at the break while shooting 19.2% from the field in the first half.
 
The offense finally came to life at the start of the third quarter as the Marauders recorded eight of the first 10 points in the period, cutting the lead down to 37-22 with 5:27 remaining, but Northern State spread the floor in the next two minutes to build the lead back up to 43-22 at the 3:46 mark. U-Mary closed out the half with two free throws and another Weir layup for a last second outburst to close out the quarter down 45-26.
 
The final quarter of the night saw a constant back-and-forth as the Marauders cut the lead down into the teens before Northern State re-extended it back out to the mid-20s and U-Mary had to swallow the bitter pill despite closing out the game on a 9-0 run in the 63-49 loss.
 
Hannah Larson brought her double-double streak from Hawaii as she finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes on the night. She also added two assists, one block and one steal while shooting 4-for-8 from the field.
 
Brittney Dietz still managed 12 points on the night despite the 4-for-14 mark from the field, along with two rebounds and one assist in 35 minutes of action.
 
Rachel Weir was flawless off the bench for U-Mary as she finished with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting to go with five rebounds, three steals and one assist in 20 minutes on the court.
 
The Marauders will host Minnesota State University Moorhead tomorrow afternoon, starting at 4:00 PM at the McDowell Activity Center.
 
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