Wayne State 84 Southwest Minnesota State 67
Wayne State College shot a season-high 57.7 percent from the field, including a sizzling 71 percent (15 of 21) in the second half, as the Wildcats pulled away for a 84-67 win in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played at Marshall, Minnesota Saturday evening. WSC moves to 18-7 overall and remains in second place in the NSIC standings at 11-5 while SMSU falls to 11-13 overall and 7-9 in league play. The win also avenged a 72-71 loss to the Mustangs earlier this season in Wayne on January 12th.
The game was close for the first half and part of the second half until the host Mustangs could not keep up with Wayne State's red-hot shooting as the Wildcats pulled away for the win. WSC used a 9-2 run over the final 2:47 of the first half to grab a 42-36 lead at halftime in a first half that saw nine ties and seven lead changes. WSC then took control of the game early in the second half as the 'Cats hit 11 of their first 13 shots of the half to take a commanding 70-49 lead with 10:25 left and Wayne State cruised to a 84-67 victory.
Laquisha Cook paced a balanced scoring attack for Wayne State with 22 points. Andrea Schoepf poured in a season-high 19 points while freshman center Jodie Boss added a career-high 17 points to go with four blocked shots. Teresa Case rounded out the double figure scoring for the Wildcats with 12 points.
WSC made 30 of 52 shots from the field for 57.7 percent, including 15 of 21 in the second half for 71 percent. The 'Cats hit just 1 of 9 from the three point line but made a season-high 88.5 percent from the foul stripe connecting on 23 of 26 free throws.
Liz Grider led Southwest Minnesota State with 18 points followed by Heidi Kimmes with 12. The Mustangs shot 38 percent from the field making 25 of 65 shots. SMSU was 6 of 16 from the three point line and 11 of 18 at the charity stripe.
SMSU held a slight 33-31 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats. Schoepf hauled in a game-high eight rebounds to lead Wayne State followed by Kylee McGill with six. Sara Leidall led SMSU in rebounds with seven.
Wayne State will close out the regular season next weekend on the road, visiting MSU Moorhead Friday evening and #5 Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday evening.
