Saturday, January 24, 2009

Wayne State 62 Southwest Minnesota State 52

            Wayne State College nearly squandered a 14-point second half lead, but the Wildcats held off a late Southwest Minnesota State rally and defeated the Mustang 62-52 in Northern Sun Conference women's basketball played in Marshall, Minnesota.  The Wildcats improved to 7-1 on the road this season with the win, lifting Wayne State's overall mark to 10-8 with a 7-4 league record while Southwest Minnesota State falls to 10-11 overall and 2-9 in the NSIC.

            The Wildcats used 50 percent shooting in the first half (13 of 26) to build a 31-21 halftime lead.  WSC maintained that lead early in the second half and built their biggest lead of the game at 14 points, 50-36 with 8:10 to play, after freshman Clare Duwelius sank a pair of free throws following a technical foul on SMSU head coach Mike Jewett.  That apparently sparked the Mustangs as SMSU went on an 11-0 run and pulled within two points at 50-48 with 5:34 to play following two free throws from Tori Fink.  However, Wayne State countered the SMSU run by scoring on five out of six possessions getting eight straight free throws and a jumper from Julie Ann Wagner to push the lead back up to 10 points and the Wildcats went on to the 62-52 win.

            Wayne State placed four players in double figures led by freshman reserve Clare Duwelius with 17 points off the bench, going 5 of 11 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw stripe.  Laquisha Cook added 15 points while Julie Ann Wagner and Mara Hjelle each poured in 10 points for the Wildcats.   WSC shot 21 of 46 from the field for 45.7 percent, going 5 of 13 from the three point line and 15 of 19 at the charity stripe.

            Abby Oakland scored a game-high 20 points to lead Southwest Minnesota State, hitting 6 of 11 three pointers and 7 of 13 shots from the field for the Mustangs.  Sara Leidall was the only other Mustang in double figures with 15 points.  SMSU shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, making 20 of 60 shots.  The Mustangs were 9 of 24 from the three point line and 3 of 6 at the free throw line.

            WSC held a commanding 42-28 advantage in rebounding over the Mustangs as Hjelle grabbed nine boards followed by eight for Wagner to lead the Wildcats while Laura Kramer hauled in six rebounds to lead the Mustangs.  The Wildcats enjoyed a 24-8 edge in points in the paint and had 18 turnovers to just 11 for SMSU.

            Wayne State will be at home next weekend, entertaining St. Cloud State Friday night and Concordia, St. Paul on Saturday night at Rice Auditorium.