Northern Today Spring 2020

NORTHERN TODAY 14 SPRING 2020 Wolves Recap THE WOLVE S rose to the occasion, completing their semester strong with a 3.36 department-wide GPA and finding ways to give back to their communities through an altered version of the Day of Champions. Northern SAAC again sponsored the Thunder Awards, and the department announced Gabe King and Ashley Rozell as the 2019-20 Clark Swisher and Hildred Wolfe Award recipients. Visit nsuwolves. com/thunderawards to see all of the 2020 winners. The second half of the 2019-20 season brought some new and unique challenges for not only our communities and nation, but also Northern State University student-athletes. 2019-20 WINTER-SPRING Northern did not miss a beat in Saul Phillips’ first season at the helm, winning its third straight NSIC Overall and Tournament Championships with a 26-6 record. NSU earned a berth in the NCAA Central Region Tournament as the fourth seed, with their NSIC/ Sanford Health Basketball Tournament Championships over Minnesota State. Three Wolves earned NSIC All- Conference honors (Fox, King, Stark), with Parker Fox being named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Fox earned All-Region accolades from both the D2CCA and NABC. Three single game and career records were broken by Mason Stark and Gabe King, who were honored on the NSIC All- Tournament team alongside Parker Fox, the tournament’s MVP. Northern finished the year ranked at No. 17 in the NABC Top-25 Poll. MEN’S BASKETBALL The Wolves posted a 14-16 record overall in 2019-20. They advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament with an overtime win on the road at Concordia- St. Paul. The victory over the Golden Bears won the 2020 Thunder Award for Upset of the Year. Brianna Kusler and Lexi Wadsworth were named to the NSIC All-Conference first and second team. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Brianna Kusler , Senior Aberdeen, S.D. Parker Fox, Junior Mahtomedi, Minn.